Afterglow
       

The Radium Dial Factory stood empty,
fenced off, abuzz. Boards on the windows,

scrub weeds pocking the dusty yard. The story
quieted down. After a while no one gazed

through the chainlink fence. When the factory
was leveled, locals picked over the rubble

helping themselves to bricks, still perfectly serviceable.
Schools were glad to reclaim the oak desks.

Even now radioactive fingerprints tarnish
everything: houses, a car dealership, a running track,

a lot that hosts a flea market on the weekends.
St. Columba Cemetery radiates.

We think what we can't see can't hurt us.
We think this deep in our bones.

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Copyright © 2021 Ann Hudson All rights reserved
from Glow
Next Page Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission