Cold steam lifts from chipped blue rim
Grease and graphite stained my brim
The dosimeter clicks on strap
Boots fade past the reactor trap
I count steps on Pripyat bridge
Geiger sings from ridge to ridge
Ceramic heart holds warmth and grit
Bridge of clicks where footfalls quit
Birch roots crack the asphalt skin
Red forest drinks the toxic wind
My handle bears a worker's print
Fired clay survives the winter flint
I count steps on Pripyat bridge
Geiger sings from ridge to ridge
Ceramic heart holds warmth and grit
Bridge of clicks where footfalls quit
Tourist groups snap photos fast
Moments captured never last
Plastic cups don't hold the heat
Ceramic cracks but stays complete
I count steps on Pripyat bridge
Geiger sings from ridge to ridge
Ceramic heart holds warmth and grit
Bridge of clicks where footfalls quit
Shift change at the checkpoint gate
Paper badges verify the date
I'm passed along from hand to hand
The only witness to the land
Graphite dust on fingernail beds
Reactor four sleeps under lead
Thirty years of silent dread
I hold the coffee warm the dead
New containment arches high
Shielding clouds across the sky
Tourists stand where liquidators stood
My ceramic song understood
I count steps on Pripyat bridge
Geiger sings from ridge to ridge
Ceramic heart holds warmth and grit
Bridge of clicks where footfalls quit
Chipped rim kisses calloused thumb
Bridge of clicks the shift is done