She was from Chernobyl
/Her face was pale as a dusky moon
Sitting in a wheelchair silently with
Empty stares telling no aspiration and
Apathetic expression as if her spirit evicted
In a mental health hospital
She was treated for depression
An evacuee from Chernobyl
After the nuclear plant explosion
When she was a young girl
She wouldn’t know the air was toxic
Neither could she hold her breaths
Nor find a place to hide
When the invisible radiation streamed into
Her body before the evacuation
Immigrated to this country years later
She started a new life with old maladies in tow
This promising land however was inept at
Dissipation of her dejection
Its fresh air couldn’t revive her vitality
Her damaged marrow remained sluggish
Enigmatic weakness continued to
Prevent her from walking
With health robbed away
Did her memory of
The halcyon days of her youth
Survive the radioactive fallout
Did she ever wonder
what her life would be like
If that nuclear disaster never happened
By Shih-Fang Wang
From: United States