Friday, July 16, 2010

IN THE DESERT - JULY 16, 1945

by Phyllis Wax


the sun rose in the west
an awesome glow
trepidation
in the hearts of the scientists
who turned nature inside out

nervously imagining it would—                    
naively hoping it would not—
be used, would not blaze
and rise in the Far East
belching a fungal cloud

the toxic breath of a new beast
changing forever the odds
in favor of extinction


Phyllis Wax lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she seeks to make sense of history and the world.  Her poetry shows up in The New Verse News now and then, as well as in numerous other online and print journals and anthologies.
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