When Death come to town she claimed
our flesh by selling us dust; whiter
than pale as the twilight her poisonous kiss
of nuclear mushrooms and alpha-decay.
When Death came to knock on our door
a morning in May, luminescence was dark,
but she promised us blessing of bones,
and gifted us green-glow of scientific relief.
When Death showed us her face, unveiled
for the first time we saw as if mirrored — our
selves, we saw in her face the pockmarks,
pus and blood on our pillows, the liquid in lungs.
When Death had left us alone, we waited
decaying, pale in half-life of matters, choked
by the ghost of the nooses she’d tied;
smothered in soil we opened our graves.
Angel of Death by Horace Vernet
Today I prompt at the toads and the subject is radiation. I will also link to the Poetry Pantry tomorrow morning.
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June 30, 2018
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Whew, this really gives me the chills. Deep and dark.
This is mega kick-ass poetry, B. I love it when you get all grave-nasty with your poems. 🙂
My faves:
“whiter
than pale as the twilight her poisonous kiss
of nuclear mushrooms and alpha-decay”
“our
selves, we saw in her face the pockmarks,
pus and blood on our pillows”
“choked
by the ghost of the nooses she’d tied”
What a vivid description of what radiation poisoning must look like after a mushroom cloud. It’s the most frightening thing!
kaykuala
by the ghost of the nooses she’d tied;
smothered in soil we opened our graves
The Big C is the proverbial death sentence waiting in the shadows and radiation is not really a savior.
Hank
Wow, this is so dark! Beautifully written.
That was deep, dark, and strangely fun. It would be perfect to read this on an apocalypse day, as all world unfurl around us. I could even see this as an opening of a apocalyptic movie!
My goodness this is incredibly dark and chilling! Especially this: “When Death showed us her face, unveiled for the first time we saw as if mirrored”.. gave me goosebumps!
such stunning imagery
Deep, dark, and the most profoundly chilling imagery, Björn
Yes, this is very moving Bjorn. I do remember after WW2 the publicised fear of nuclear war and the propaganda explaining how bad it would be as the Iron Curtain descended over Europe!
The soft breath of Chernobyl still flows cold in our dreams. It will for a long, long time, sterile, eerie, faint. Maybe it robbed our brains before the Internet came along. Great response to the challenge.
Oh dear.. the title itself is so stark… reminds me of the visit to Hiroshima memorial.
Dark and deadly, may I say?
Love the sound pattern and the shocking images in this poem: “she claimed our flesh by selling us dust,” “luminescence was dark,” “blessing of bones,” “pockmarks, pus and blood on our pillows, the liquid in lungs.” And I can feel in my bones that terrifying moment when Death unveils her face and we stare at our own image.
Dark and chilling, Bjorn. The repetition of ‘When Death came…’ is so effective, which has a lot to do with the rhythm of the phrase and the similarity to the well-known phrase ‘when the circus came to town’, which gives it an even more chilling edge.The delicate description of the dust as ‘whiter than pale as the twilight, contrasts starkly with the ‘poisonous kiss of nuclear mushrooms and alpha-decay’.I also find the phrase ‘green-glow of scientific relief’ a stark and effective image..
Wow, the choking lungs, the pus and blood. A dismal scene which i hope never happens. So well described.
It seems you didn’t miss anything, your words are well matched with the image. Death so lovely, white dress and golden wings.
This is dark and foreboding in many ways, I see trouble on the road ahead would the angel of death have mercy I wonder?
A superb write Bjorn, dark and raw and frightening’ which has left a deep impression on me. I fear this day that I am sure will eventually come to pass.
Last week I viewed The Day After (1983) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After) for the second time, having watched it before, I think last year. It is equally chilling and still very relevant. Some day someone will be mad enough to order the turn of the key, the pressing of that button. And Death will come…
Anna
Frightening and beautifully written, Bjorn. Your poetry has a maturity and voice that is quite wonderful, my friend.
So much sickness… And the thought of it mirroring the speaker’s own face/world is terrifying, especially since you make such a great job at making us feel it all.
Wow this iso so scifi scary
Thanks for dropping by my Sunday Standard today
Much💞love
It feels you were looking back a bit at the Chernobyl incident the the affect on your beautiful homeland. You do dark so very well.
Well I loved this–the sense of rhythm and cadence is just wonderful!
A haunting – chilling – piece that cuts like a knife, again and again with layered images that startle and stun.
Great work!
This visitor would not be welcome at my door…ever.
Wow! This is beautiful in a ghastly, chilling way. Well done, Bjorn!
dark and vivid.
the four stanzas show us how radiation can screw us up.
This is scary because it has happened, could happen again.. Such a vivid write about the horrible realization of radioactive poisoning.
I am not going cite any of the amazing phrases in this poem, because there are too many. Deep, dark, chilling.
Sadly ironic that Marie Curie, who, with her husband, discovered radiation and its many good uses, died of it.