23.3.2016 (#82), Chornobyl Dead Zone by Myron Lysenko

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I killed this pig with a long knife, sliced his throat.
That dead falcon over there ate my chicken

so I beat him with a stick and strung him up
above my chicken coop. Nobody kills my chickens.

I was relocated after the accident, we all were,
but my husband and I needed to get back home. 

When the government officials tried to stop us I said,
Shoot us and dig the grave; otherwise we’re staying.

I survived Stalin’s Extermination by Hunger

even though my family wanted to eat me.

Starvation is what scares me. Not radiation.
All those who left here are dying of sadness.

I wish I still had a husband to quarrel with.
The men died, but we women stayed.
We have to help each other, that’s why
I’m giving slices of pig fat to them. I love them. 

Please come back tomorrow,

we’re going to party.


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The information for this poem was taken from the web page:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/9646437/The-women-living-in-Chernobyls-toxic-wasteland.html