The light of a thousand suns
flashed in the back of his eyes.
Photon beam,
70 billion eV strong
shot through his head.
Do you think the Radium Girls would have visited him?
Showed him their rotting jaws
as his brain swelled
and his face went numb?
Would they have stood by him and nodded?
Solemn, resigned,
as his care was denied
on account of fine print.
For the money they fought for fell uselessly
in their weakened hands
as they died,
too little, too late.
What did they expect?
For the glowing dial you must
tear your jaws,
rip out your teeth.
Fall at the folly of scientific men.
For the cost of safety you must
let the warning bulb fizzle
and die.
Let the lock rust
and shatter.
Fall at the feet of the great holy beam.
For the ego of man
Let your faces rot,
your money burn,
and your medicine be ripped
from your idle hands.
Across time, countries, the iron curtain.
Bodies strung between courts,
waiting on the glowing dial.
How cost efficient is the human soul?
The Tributary 