Autumn Bomb (Fall Out)

I am struck by the simplicity of light in the atmosphere in the autumn, as if the earth absorbed none, and out of this profusion of dazzling light came the autumnal tints. - Thoreau

Paulo Falco

foliage of atomic grandeur

arboreal gamma rays

manic missiles

resplendent radiance of enriched uranium

ignacious isotopes

reaching critical mass

nascent nuclear fallout litters the ground

windswept, leafed isotopes conveying

burning, neutrino grandeur portraying

fusion of mind and painted soul

fission of thoughts with irrefutable truth

heaven's sacred reactor

spent rods of innocence still glowing

stopping in eternity for one more glance of ground zero over my shoulder

i turn and leave

desperation momentarily sedated

forever irradiated

with the flash burn of brilliance

Author's Note

"October is the month of painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes round the world. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight." - Thoreau