"The unleashed power of the atom changed everything
save our mode of thinking, and we thus drift toward
unparalleled catastrophes."
[- Albert Einstein]

In a nation for a dangerous penchant for secrecy
A dread disaster at Chernobyl was concealed

As a poisoning cloud spread over the Eastern Bloc
Alarming information was reluctantly revealed
An explosion in Reactor Four - a fire refusing to cease

No containment walls preventing radioactive release
Evidence that peaceful technology had gone awry
More catastrophically than Windscale or TMI

Alert - Celebration in Kiev
Under glowing skies - Soviet lies
Alert - In nearby Poland
A shower of radiation
Children iodized
Mayday - A day of rejoice
A cry of distress

Severe political fallout - toxic exchange of words
Soviet obscurantism under verbal attack
Abroad, outraged countries appeal for information

Met with grudging riposte, hesitant placation
At home, TASS reports no danger - nothing to fear
As deadly elemental isotopes spew into the biosphere

"The unleashed power of the atom..." - A warning from the past
The benefits of technology are reversed by careless human error
Science, once a saviour, now an effective destroyer
We must apply our knowledge with care

Entombed in concrete, Chernobyl will forever remain
A monument to the chilling effects of negligence