I was fifteen years old when the nukes came

The war in Europe
had spilled into the west
now we were all at war.

And I still feel a sense of sorrow
of loss
when I think about it.

Oh, the consequences!
I wish it never happened to me
To US.

I wish I could turn back time
but sometimes
time wants things to happen
sometimes
things are meant to happen
To turn the tides of history

It was a sunny day
like no other
I was walking to school
when I got a phone call

It was my aunt.
My Auntie Anya.

She sounded so frantic
so terrified.

There was something on the news…
The war had worsened in Eastern Europe
and was now coming here.

There was mass panic in the major cities.
The fear of death
its stench, was strong.

She told me to come home
immediately
It wasn’t safe
anymore.

We had to get to the underground.

That’s what we called the bomb shelter
Fifty feet underground.

And I had to get there
before the fallout came
before the destruction
before the end.