A World On Fire

The flash of light
it was so bright
as if God himself
had torched the earth
in a rain of holy fire.

I had to close my eyes
so I wouldn’t go blind
A light enveloped me
and I felt myself being judged.

Then the heat came
and I felt like I was in hell.

I thought
I’m dead
I’m going to die
This is how
I’m going to die

But I didn’t.
I survived.
I don’t know how…
But I survived.

The radiation should have killed me
it was a direct blast
I should have been ash and dust
but I wasn’t.
It was a miracle.

Or was it?

Why?
Why did I survive?
Why was I spared
when so many have died?

I was alive
even though
my body felt like
it was on fire.

Every muscle,
every organ,
my entire body
cried out in agony.

There were bodies all around me
all ash and dust
but not me…
and I didn’t know why

I was a survivor
of a disaster
that changed my life
broke my soul
and formed me anew

Nuclear radiation
filled my cells
broke me down and
mutated me.

I was no longer Lena
the cheerleader
and ballet dancer…

I was changed forever.

I looked at my hand
Lesions formed
and then immediately
started to heal

A symbol of hope
in a dying world.

Because even in the darkest of times
life could go on.
We’re human beings…
We just struggled on…
in even the harshest of circumstances.

We were human.

But I wasn’t anymore.
I was something else entirely.
However,
my human spirit still prevailed
against all odds,
into the night.