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Spring

By Kim Marshall

After “Lament for Fukushima,” raku fired stoneware by Nuala Creed

We rush toward change, ask:
              how much
              do you love me?

Nine point zero
              is that a noble order
              of magnitude?

It brings twenty thousand
              people into the quake.

We wash their cities in waves.
Each tide draws away pieces.

Is this how
            you love something
            that destroys you?

SCRAM is for breakdowns, nuclear
waste planted in kelp. Scram is for
safety rope cut, supine, careless,
rapid, afloat, meters rising and rising.

 

Note: SCRAM stands for “safety control rod axe man” and is an emergency kill switch for nuclear reactors.
Added: Wednesday, May 23, 2018  /  Used with permission.
Kim Marshall

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Kim Marshall is a queer, biracial, Jewish poet who considers herself from a little bit of everywhere due to the experience of traveling extensively during her childhood. This and other myriad tales about her life are present in her poetry along with her passion for community engagement.

She is a Cave Canem fellow and a fellow of The Watering Hole. Her work has appeared in two anthologies: Multiverse: A Collection of Superhero Poetry (Write Bloody, 2014) and After Ferguson: In Solidarity (Morning Glory Publishing, 2015).

Other poems by this author

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