Poem 494

The 1984 Bhopal Carbide disaster in India released methyl isocyanate gas that killed burned and blinded thousands living in close proximity to the US-owned Union Carbide Corporation factory … no compensation has ever been forthcoming …

Bhopal

Bhopal Carbide
on the white wall incisor jewellery
of broken green glass

when an eye burns
the colour white closes it off
like a venetian blind

dusty thicknesses of moths
disturb the room
silver grain on my fingers
when I pick them by the apex
a fine make up
                             a pure drug

in Bhopal
a burn seized hold
of the air

                 moths butt against the sockets
crawling
                distracted by light
even in a dark room
they have antlers of green flame

I am assaulted with sight
while you wear the American coin
on your eyes
                          the white blind