The Mirror in the Woods

I wrote this poem in about 30 min inspired by a real life event.

A stroll in the autumn woods beckons
The summer heat and bugs are gone
Colors other than green reveal themselves
Early fallen cottonwood leaves add crunch to the air.
A leery buck pokes at acorns
An abandoned homestead leans forlorn
A lilac bush struggles gauntly in the shade
Care is needed to poke around
An open well could swallow a man
A child's bike is pierced by a full grown tree
A door hangs by one hinge
Open enough to slip inside
The floor is patchy , revealing the crawlspace
Critters have nested in the floral sofa
A mirror hangs surprisingly straight
Only a bit of de-silvering along the edge
Who was the last face reflected?
Was it a woman checking her scarf?
Was it a child making a goofy face?
Was it a father wondering what next?
Did they know they would never return?
Did the burning glow illuminate the room?
If only the mirror were a camera to be re-wound
The story of tragedy and reclamation could be revealed
By this mirror in the woods of Chernobyl.

In 1986 when the Chernobyl nuclear plant melted down I was designing nuclear plants in the city of Chicago
If you would have told me then that I would someday tour the facility I would have thought you nuts
But Sept 2019, the day after my 59th birthday while touring Ukraine I did just that. We got within 400ft of the reactor building.
The first stop on the tour was an abandoned farming village.

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