Tinian Peace Ceremony and 2 poems

The Municipality of Tinian and Aguihan held a peace ceremony in the D. Ikeda, M. Gandhi, M.L. King Peace Garden in San Jose Village last Thursday.

It honored the Japanese who lost their lives in Nagasaki, the 73rd anniversary of it, and Hiroshima three days earlier. Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas, who had just returned from Hiroshima where he attended remembrance ceremonies read words from the mayor of Hiroshima and a poem called “I Come and Stand At Every Door” by Nazim Hikmet. It is about a 7 year old girl who died in the Hiroshima bombing. Japan consul Kinji Shinoda gave up to date statistics about how deaths related to the bombings from radiation sickness continue and called for a grass roots movement for Tinian, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki to lead a worldwide movement to end nuclear warfare.

Rep. Edwin P. Aldan (R-Tinian) made remarks about the historic bombings and nuclear war. These three laid wreaths of remembrance for those who passed away due to the atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I wrote two poems for the occasion and read them at the peace ceremony. The poems were inspired by writing of Daisaku Ikeda.

GOODNESS IN ONE’S SELF AND OTHERS

“The key to the flowering of humanity of which Buddhism speaks is steadfast belief in people’s goodness and dedication to cultivating this goodness in one’s self and others.”—Daisaku Ikeda, born 1928.

These wise words by Ikeda, Daisaku
may remind us of the frog jumping in the water
the frog jumps into the water in a famous haiku
bringing reality to father, mother, son, and daughter

The frog is gone but ripples from his dive remain
ever widening across the water of the old pond
like goodness in others Dr. Ikeda tries to explain
ripples grow respect for humanity like a magic wand

We saw the frog sitting and then it quickly jumped in
we heard the splash and in an instant the frog was gone
belief in others goodness is a sure place we can begin
dedication to growing it in self and others begins at dawn

A peaceful way we can diminish wars and insanity
cultivating the flowering of goodness in humanity.

BONDS OF TRUST AND FRIENDSHIP

“In the end, peace will not be realized by politicians signing treaties. True and lasting peace will only be realized by forging life-to-life ‘bonds of trust and friendship’ among the world’s people. Human solidarity is built by opening our hearts to each other. This is the power of dialogue.”—D. Ikeda

In dialogue we talk frequently of bonds of trust
and their connection with bonds of friendship
in any relationship both are an absolute must
for lasting peace as we go through life’s trip

We must find among all peoples around the world
a respect for and absolute need for human solidarity
regardless language spoken or under what flag unfurled
respect sought for and worked towards with absolute clarity

It begins with Ikeda’s “opening our hearts to each other”
not with a focus on self like in Hamlet’s monologue
but a focus on every man, woman, sister, and brother
that my friends is Ikeda’s “ power of dialogue”

Ikeda’s 2018 peace proposal is “ Toward an Era of
Human Rights-Building a People’s Movement ”
with your recognition of and respect for the dignity
of others on a daily basis you will make improvement
Domo arigato gozaimasu yan si Yu’us ma’ase’.