And Life Goes On After a Meltdown

The meltdown in the reactor # Four at Chernobyl

Burst the housing bubble a short distance away in Pripyat

In what has become part of the dreaded Zone.

 

Humans departed the high-rises en-mass

And everything green turned burnt brown

For about twenty-some years.

 

Then Mother Nature took over braving

The crack, crack, crackling of the Geiger counter

To welcome back those

 

Who had been unceremoniously booted out

By the agents of the state for social engineering,

City planning and industrial development.

 

The field mice entered the lobby and

Looked around the first floor seeking comfortable

Confines from which to entertain.

 

It was a short distance from their rooms

To the bar which was left well stocked with the very best

Russian vodka and Kentucky Bourbon.

 

The beavers, chipmunks and moles headed

Straight for the basement where it was

So cool and damp and gloriously slippery,

 

But the King of the Raptors, the Bald Headed Eagle

Flew majestically and unhindered into the

Sweet suite on the top floor

 

And prepared room for the Royal family

Where it didn’t matter if the elevators worked

Because the raptors just dive bombed to the lobby

 

For a late night drink with the field mice, beavers,

Chipmunks and moles who were illuminated

By the radiation emanating from everything.