July 16th
by Sondra Ball
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July 16, 1945:
The world's first nuclear explosion
left a young crater a half mile wide
in the New Mexico desert sands.
Scientists cheered and danced on cement floors.
It was the end of our innocence.
After that, the bombs falling on Japan
were only toddler steps into night;
Desert Storm, with non-nuclear missiles,
just one more shadow of the monstrous sun
that scarred the sands of New Mexico.
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