Blue Sky End Poem by M S Latter

Sword, headband, flag and fighter plane -
the pulsating rhythm of the idling engine beckons.
We have waited, we have suffered - now we attack!

Etched upon us: 'Never close eyes on the target'.
Fuel tanks and a bomb, but most importantly
our sacrifice - it will give extra accuracy.

The Bushido code directs us: loyalty and honour until death.
We, the flower of our islands, are the 'special attack force'.
As the Mongol invasion ships were once scattered,
now we are The Divine Wind.

The cup of Sake
that I gulp hastily is
as clear as my mind.

In the next hour, blossom will be
scattered over the ocean:
Aozora no hateni (to the blue sky's end) .

* * *

From the crystal blue horizon, emerges another enemy attack wave -
their mission beyond belief and everything we know.

Past the grease and cordite, you can smell pure fear on the deck.
Shaking young men - but still resolute at battle stations.
A frenzied barrage of bullets and shells will again light the enemies' gasoline
sending their delicate planes into pirouetting fireballs. Each one
that slams into the ocean will sound a silent cheer of relief.

Yet one or two Kamikaze will always get through -
immolating themselves on flight decks and superstructures,
igniting infernos among us that melt steel
and drive burning men to leap into the sea of fire.