Broken Arrow Blues - Chernobyl Poem by Alice Anne Gordon

I sometimes think I can hear them cry,
And then I imagine them laughing.
I sometimes think I can see them running,
And then I imagine them safe.

I sometimes think I can smell the burn,
And then I imagine them playing.
I sometimes think I can feel their pain.
And then I imagine.

I imagine what it might have been like
If the operators had been more vigilant,
If the mechanisms had been quicker.
I imagine

That the world could find another way.