Volodymyr
Shashenok, the automatic systems adjuster
was under the reactor, talking
was under the reactor, talking
on
the phone, reporting on the pressure gauges.
The
explosion disconnected his line.
He received deep thermal and radiation burns
over his entire body,
He received deep thermal and radiation burns
over his entire body,
The
explosion demolished the room.
Boiling
water leaked all over the place
and radioactive steam gushed through the ruins.
and radioactive steam gushed through the ruins.
Shashenok
was found in Room 604,
pinned
under a fallen beam,
bloody
foam pouring out of his mouth,
his body contaminated by radioactive water.
"I turned off the voltage. ... I did everything right,"
he kept repeating to Gorbachenko and Palamarchuk
who tried to calm him down as they carried him out.
His wife was called to the emergency room
his body contaminated by radioactive water.
"I turned off the voltage. ... I did everything right,"
he kept repeating to Gorbachenko and Palamarchuk
who tried to calm him down as they carried him out.
His wife was called to the emergency room
but
she wasn’t particularly worried
because her husband had always told her
because her husband had always told her
that
being an engineer was not a dangerous job.
But when she saw him Lyudmyla,
But when she saw him Lyudmyla,
a
nurse, could see he wouldn’t survive.
"It was not my husband at all,
"It was not my husband at all,
it
was a swollen blister," she said. He was connected
to
a breathing apparatus
“This
is the end, Volodya,' she said,
as she watched him die at
dawn.
dear Myron, these are very difficult poems to write, I'm sure. thank you for doing so.
ReplyDeleteThey are challenging, but I want to pay tribute to the ones who lost their lives or had their lives damaged by the catastrophe. Thank you for reading and for leaving a comment. I appreciate it very much.
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