Amelia Fielden

Hanabi

My lifelong fascination with fireworks began when I was about six. At the time my
grandfather was working for the Navy. One summer evening we boarded one of their
boats, motored out towards Sydney Harbour Bridge, and moored on the dark water. The
sky became black velvet, studded with stars. Suddenly the stars were pink and green
and gold: booming, flashing,  vanishing.

the launch rocks
as I scamper side to side
looking upwards
for the most beautiful
of the fireworks

In my childhood, ‘Empire Day’ was a special event on the May calendar. Families
celebrated by letting off crackers in their gardens at night.

                       circa 1949

                                              kept in safety
                                                         behind the kitchen window
                                                         I waved and yelled
                                                         at Dad outside, firing off
                                                         catherine wheels, fountains, rockets

Fireworks, a time-honoured tradition in Japan. In rural villages particularly popular is
the custom of playing with sparklers on summer nights. Kids run around excitedly
weaving light patterns with their sparklers
                         

                         Yamaguchi 
                         August 1976             

                                                           my small girls
                                                           clad like the locals
                                                           in yukata**
                                                           dancing down the street
                                                           waving magic wands

Long ago, all of those hanabi, all of that fun.Then came the end of 2021. After two pandemic years of separation, our widely-scattered family was finally, but all too briefly, reunited.

                       New Year's Eve
                       2021                           
                                                           ten together
                                                           waiting on my balcony …
                                                           with a huge bang
                                                           the sky explodes in rubies
                                                           emeralds, silver, and gold

                                                           
    A joyful gathering as ephemeral as the fireworks
                         

                         2 January
                         2022
                                                           through salty air
                                                           crickets shrilling on one note,
                                                           a rolling roar
                                                           from the blacked out ocean …
                                                           no flower fire, this lonely night

---

About the Author

Amelia Fielden is Australian. She is a professional Japanese translator and a keen writer of traditional Japanese forms of poetry in English. Her most recent collection is These Purple Years (Ginninderra Press, 2018).