Monday, May 1, 2023

Rumors

Have you ever read something set in a time period that makes you wonder, "Has time really passed?"

I just finished Under the Broken Sky by Mariko Nagai, a novel in verse about two Japanese girls escaping the Soviet Army during World War II. One poem was titled "Rumors." This poem is about how the civilians would hear different stories, or rumors, such as Americans wiped out Japan--no one is alive. The Emperor has been killed, or Japan is now part of America. People were confused and didn't know what was really happening with this war, and they didn't know how long ago the "rumors" they heard had actually happened. They didn't know who to trust.

Here are the last three stanzas in the poem:

"I don't trust anything
anyone says.
It's like on that day

I found out about 
Japan's surrender.
All the things I thought

were true were lies,
and only lies matter
in this world now."


This scene took place in 1945 and all I could think about as I read this poem was how this could describe our world still today. A world bombarded with mistrust and lies.

The only difference is today we get the lies within seconds.



 After participating in the Slice of Life March Challenge by Two Writing Teachers, I am continuing to write my stories with other teacher-writers as we share a slice of life on Tuesdays.



2 comments:

  1. Wow, Leigh Anne, aren't you right about that poem speaking to today's world. I reread it after I finished your slice and saw it with new eyes:
    "All the things I thought

    were true were lies,
    and only lies matter
    in this world now."

    Such a sad truth.

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  2. Thank you for sharing your thinking about this book which I am now adding to my summer stack. Your phrase: we get the lies within seconds. I was listening to a podcast about AI and one scientist said this could be the best creation or it could end our world. The later was referring to the lies. So much to ponder as we realize 1945 is so similar to 2023....

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