Undetonated

I wake up to the sound
of an emergency broadcast
Rubbing my sleepy eyes
Peering past them
in total disbelief
Like a half asleep
scared latchkey kid
whose hometown
just burned down
Like back in 1979
I watched an F3 tornado
from my friend’s window
Hang, draw and quarter
the northside of Cheyenne
We learned to duck and cover
when the warning siren
screamed bloody murder
Under the imminent threat
of Russia dropping bombs
All the promise of a cold war
that never ever heated up
No death from above
Save an occasional twister
We only had so much time
Before the button was pressed
Mutually assured destruction
They once teased
So I did what I wanted
I played live music in clubs
Back when that was still a thing
I hiked thousands of miles
Never thought about tomorrow
Now all I think about is rent
As I star in a marginal role
Of a slow motion reenactment
At my day after day suicide
Working a shitty job
I am an abandoned atom
Brutally split at the seams
I’m Hiroshima’s spilled drink
Or a dropped nuclear bomb
That instead of exploding
Somehow got caught
Undetonated and buried
Like the fallout of a dream

Words: Cara Feral
Photo: 1951 AP File