Some Sort of Shining

I can still see the bright-crimson glow.
This wasn�t any ordinary fire,
It was some sort of shining.
I�d never seen anything like it in the movies.
That evening everyone spilled out
onto their balconies
and those who didn�t have them
went to friends� houses.
We were on the ninth floor,
we had a great view.
People brought their kids out,
picked them up, said, �Look! Remember!�
They stood in the black dust,
talking, breathing, wondering at it.
People came from all around in their cars
and their bikes to have a look.
We didn�t know that death could be so beautiful.



From Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Keith Gess (Dalkey Archive Press, 2005), p. 155. Submitted by Howie Good.