GROUND ZERO: Fukushima
She’s alive,
she still simmers
waiting for someone to
fall asleep at the console, or
not pour enough water over her
spent uranium rods, which steam and thirst,
fuses lit, then drenched, then lit again as if by evil
magic. Stock up on iodine pills just in case she implodes…
Japan has
plans to
evacuate
Tokyo so
sleep tight.
Don’t
for
get
to
pr
ay
oooops
looks like it’ll be a long winter
© 2012 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday, the letter is Z. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Which is what we’ll be if the US doesn’t step up… did you know they have had THREE meltdowns at Fukushima? That’s two more than Chernobyl. And have we heard about any of this from the American media? No! Why? Not because they are “liberal,” (the left would be all over this) but because the TV stations, papers, and radio stations are owned by power (plant) brokers and their elitist ilk. Makes me want to rent “The China Syndrome” again. This will also be in the side bar at Poets United. Peace, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
aufzuleiden
Very poignant poem, Amy – and the concluding comment is simply nauseating , though I must admit I wasn’t unaware of this, nor am I surprised that you folks in the U.S. are being kept deliberately in the dark (it’s not like there aren’t any winds or tides that go from Japan across the Pacific to, oh, I don’t know – say, California, Washington and Oregon … oh – wait – there is!). It really is a sad state (in the U.S.) about the true abridgement of the “Freedom of speech” as represented by a “free press” since it can’t really be free when it serves the interests of corporations rather than the truth. The megacorporations – power brokers et al – that own the media conglomerates (save for Cluster Fuxed, which isn’t a purveyor of news but lies) are hopelessly compromised so long as they are owned by corporations that have their thumbs in the pie.
Hope you checked out my recent poems at http://aufzuleiden.wordpress.com – always love your feedback.
-p
Sharp Little Pencil
Peter, I was just over there, and thanks for prompting the visit. You are ROCKING THE HOUSE and the boat of the “I got mine” crowd. Really socking it to them, and I’m so proud you are my friend! Amy
Misky
Oh my. That gave me a shudder and a shiver, just as good poetry should do,
Roger Green
Yup. It is a perfectly safe technology, and you damn liberals are just crybabies. Oops. Never mind.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Sharp Little Pencil
Yeah, safe, clean, and affordable… until they freaking blow up and kill us all (except the cockroaches, and Cher). Bleeding straight from the heart, just for you!! Amy
lmkazmierczak
Nice use of a shapely poem♫ But praying should come first….just my opinion.
Sharp Little Pencil
Interesting thought… my prayers for peace are joined by so many, and yet there are the gutless “Christians” who would rather drop bombs and make money off the suffering of others, and they pray, too… I wonder. THanks for this food for thought. Peace, Amy
thbthttt
A very clever take on zed. And the poem is good and strong, even without the formatting. My entry for ABC Wednesday this week is Ziplocked.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, thbthttt (is this an acronym? The Heady Blond Thinker, Headed To The Tram?? Peace, Amy (wink)
thbthttt
All is explained here.
Sorry for the late reply, but I am spread way too thin on the Internet and only just discovered you’d responded.
lesliebcLeslie
I also thought of 9/11 while reading this – excellent writing but so sad we need to write of these things.
Leslie
abcw team
Sharp Little Pencil
The sadder the situation, the more we MUST write. The corporate media aren’t doing jack in reporting this.
Rose Cottrill
My husband would love reading all your articles, he think the same as you do.
Zebu and Zebrula.
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team
Sharp Little Pencil
By all means, invite him over! We can have drinks on the lanai… I mean, the slab of pavement outside our back door… Tried the link, didn’t work; will go to ABC and search there. Peace, Amy
kolembo
Ah, spectacular!
BuddhaKat
well, I must admit, since I got here via your link in my MB post, I had a brief thought you were speaking of her… well… hmmmm…
excellent piece, Amy!!!
🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
You crack me up!! And thx. wink, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil
And i was!!
El Guapo
Nicely done! Art within art.
brian miller
ugh…i knew things were tenuous and about at least one of the meltdowns…but it is surprising how little we do know of it….nice conrete form…and i hope they can get it under control for sure…dont need to scare the masses in an election year you know…smiles.
Sharp Little Pencil
We NEED to scare the masses to DEATH in an election year, because the power companies are all squarely behind He Who Must Not Be Named (Guapo got me on a Harry Potter kick), Willard Romney. Peace, Amy
Polly Robinson
Probably one of the most effective shape poems I have seen
Sharp Little Pencil
Thx, Polly, I really did work hard on it, because forms aren’t my usual style! Amy
wordsandthoughtspjs
Powerful write, Amelita.
Pamela
Sharp Little Pencil
Gracias, mi amiga Anglamexicana!! A
Lindy Lee
Mushroom cloud poem, scarey facts well represented…
purplepeninportland
Electrifying!
Kay, Alberta, Canada
Thanks for your comment on my Mandela submission at Real Toads, and for including the link to this poem, Amy. If I try to look at my individual life from a global perspective, it’s pretty scary, knowing powerful governments have so much control over whether we live or whether we die. I’ve reached an age where I expect my friends to die, but I think about younger adults, about young people, teenagers, children, and babies, and am very afraid.
So, back to putting one foot in front of the other and hoping I can make some small difference to someone, somewhere.
K