MINERS
We knew enough already
about where to find
yellow cake, so when
the government agencies came
because of the bomb,
we thought we’d get paid
more for uranium.
I don't think my Dad
or his brothers or anybody
that owned uranium
properties knew
about the bomb: the ordinary
miner made energy. That’s
what I learned about
in school: how the hydrogen
in a glass of water could run a freight
train across the United States.
But then
I got drafted and was in the South
Pacific where I learned
the bomb had been dropped
on Nagasaki or Hiroshima
and I was proud
of all these things and of course
my imagination went wild
if it was my father’s or his brother’s
properties that made
this material, how much more
was in the area? I hoped
if it was uranium
in those bombs, I could get back home
and produce more
at a profit, maybe
make it a lifetime
occupation.