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The dolmens of Tadenfallow Bedell the apple greylore, And sharfle starf in lunlit They bewhile the nightenflow.
Frumunder stoons of dolmens Grumble sprites and ork-tra-ra To chortle forth and down the hollow Leaching out with caustic omens.
A cask of crimson sky – Born of evil goings – Streck whild from round the dolmens Of hinderform from eye.
The cask was set down deep Far more than coffin goe Within a granite toom No slimery wurm can creep.
Dusk was shroud from high And darkness filled to top While rancid bubbles burst below Within the cask of sky.
O’er the site there placed A minder sign to stay In coldest marble cuts In pretty words not laced,
“Rest quiet now And cease your shifting Til come a time Of land up-lifting.” Mike C.Rose (2/1973)
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Commentary.
As the title states, this poem was written after attending a seminar by a researcher in the field of nuclear waste management. Pretty grim stuff. As a result, a nonsense poem texture was used to express the frightening madness of the situation. The researcher spoke about the state-of-the-art process of “encapsulation by vitrification,” dissolving the nuclear waste in a molten glass and cooling it to form a solid for long term storage. Besides the enormous problems associated with handling these materials at high temperature and the escape of volatile radioactive isotopes during the heating, there is the unresolved issue that, over a stretch of time, the radiation from nuclear waste likes to destroy any matrix containing the waste. While initially insoluble in ground water, the glass matrix crumbles. In the process, it develops an active surface chemistry and BECOMES soluble. The half-lives of these isotopes are longer than the entire history of human civilization. The researcher spoke of the need to develop a stable peaceful civilization that will last hundreds of thousands of years –AND- the need for a nuclear priesthood to look after the waste for what seems like an eternity. In the likely case of the fall of civilization, the burial site should have permanent signage in all known languages. The lengthy continuing cost of nuclear power will greatly outweigh any short-term profit benefits of nuclear energy, and the weaponry side of nuclear energy makes a stable civilization unlikely. |
