MM on miners.....

This week marks the 21st anniversary of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Do you remember it? I do. I remember being annoyed that we were banned from playing on the grass or in the sandpit. It was also annoying that fresh milk was considered contaminated so we had to have toast for breakfast instead of our usual cereal. And for a 9 year old boy nothing was more annoying than that when it rained we had to stay in doors. Some of the people of Ukraine with their bereavements, abandoned homes, cancerous bodies and deformed babies may remember it for different reasons........ and our governement continue to insist nuclear fuel is vital to our future. I'd say renewable sources are more vital!

This is an extract from a poem by Mario Petrucci from his collection 'Heavy Water' which deals with the miners, firemen and soldiers who were ordered into Chernobyl to clear up the mess. They were not told of the disastrous consequences these acts of heroism would have for their futures.

Miners (Chernobyl 1986)
We came out fainting
like girls. Our black wouldn't wash.
We knew this was no ordinary ore.
That each grain we dug was worth a life......
..........And now there are those
who will not stand near us. To them
I say - How will you bury us? And so
we are all agreed. All we brothers -
from Kiev. Moscow. Dnepropetrovsk.
We vow to bury one another. This
is impossible they tell us. It cannot
be done. It can. We are miners.
We know how to dig.