Kamikaze

Kamikaze
By Michelle Brown

What a bright and wonderful day.
Not a cloud in the sky,
the future in my wake.

The wind whips my hair around,
the salt of the sea fills my nostrils.
The waves slap against the deck.
O' what a sound!

Leaning over the railing,
I watch coy fish play.
Happiness could not fail me,
for there is not a way.

The captain receives news
and I watch the sea glisten.
I strain my ears and
aim to listen.

I cannot comprehend
the words that I take in.
Something will happen, he says.
But it did not sound pleasant.

There is a new pitch up above
that contradicts the ocean blue.
Gazing up I see it. Not a bird, nor original plane.
This, more menacing, more vain.

Closer and closer it advances,
until right into the boat it smashes.
The warship ten miles behind
their intended target.

Fires ignite, debris afoot.
I am one of them, flying,
flying overboard.
My body hits the crystal sea.

The waves carry me
down, down, down.
The smoke, the flames,
it all fades away.

I do not possess the ability to swim.
So I don't, and I wait.
Down, down, down I go.
Into the world of the unknown.

My lungs burn, I cannot breathe.
I thrash, I scream, I weave!
For my future, I wait.
Nothing comes. My perfect day ruined,
I was only eight.