On December 15, 2000, more than 14 years after the explosion, the nuclear plant was finally shut down.
The plant stays closed for over 10 years now, and the zone of exclusion (30 KM zone) is now being reopen for tourists soon, but not in October when I was there. The lives of many people have changed for ever. Many lives were lost and many still suffer. As a photo journalist put it, it was an act of self destruction by the humanity.
This poem below was written by Launa, an unknown poet. It is poignant.
Uprooted: Yet from these strange ashes hope will rise
By Launa
If a man’s thoughts dye his soul
What kind of stain do his deeds leave?
A hazardous spill on himself and upon the laps of others
Who share the same air
Breathing in and out
In and out
Now there’s bitterness that abounds
In the bread basket to the north
Uprooted family trees with forgotten people
In yellowed photos dangling down
Wooden cradles set ablaze
In the forest
Where blue light sprang from place to place
Luminescent
Deadly beautiful
Reminiscent of sparklers
Cracking at a May Day parade
The rain has become hot tears pouring down
Falling down
Dropping to the earth
The fragmented rivulets on a musical score
Splash on these paper lives, fragile and all to brief
The muffled sobbing is a melody
But only to the ears of Him unseen
It’s an aria of the heart that sings a Capella
The high pitched notes of pain
Yes he who suffers much speaks a wordless language
It transcends dialects, country lines
And political ideologies
Uprooted, yet not alone
I have seen lives irrevocably changed
In one moment in time
From one thoughtless choice, a careless decision
Leaving ancient villages empty
Doors are swinging on squeaky hinges
For all eternity plus seven years more
And the plastic dolls of stolen youth
Sit on dust covered window panes
Vacantly gazing at the loss…
Uprooted, yet not alone
Heartbreak and tragedy
Are no respecter of persons, traditions, religion
Or plans
It is blinded by skin color
And the coins in one’s purse
I have been told that fear is like rust
That eats away hope, little by little
Corroding all confidence
This invisible acid obliterates desire
Until we are mere shells with nothing left inside…
Uprooted, yet not alone
I believe that love is a salve
To be spread on the wound to heal and soothe
Able to mend the innermost places
That are hidden from man
Faith causes that page to turn
Just because today’s sunshine is blocked out by the clouds
Doesn’t mean the sun is gone
If God seems silent
It doesn’t mean he has left us
Or doesn’t hear our cries
Perhaps we are the ones who are not listening
To the voice that is gentle and low
Tender and always near
We must be quiet and still
He is here
And anxious to woo us to Him life a lover
He will be revealed once more ….
Uprooted, yet not alone
There is a day that dawns upon all of our broken lives
That we are able to see clearly
If we look with unjaded eyes
We can see that we are all people with ruined dreams
With unrealized plans
Yes, somehow they can fit perfectly
Into His bigger picture
And will be breathtakingly beautiful
In time…
Uprooted, yet never alone
From these strange ashes
Hope will rise!
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