Radium Girl
       

Novelty, it was, so I painted my nails
and giggled as radiance lit up the room.
I passed chirpy gossip of boyfriends
to my factory friends while brushing on
numbered clock faces so time would be visible
in the darkest places for customers.

Liquid radium. I didn't know it was poison
soaking through my skin and bones.
Years later, what once blazed gold
spilled inside my blood, became sickness.

Who will pay for such novelty, malady,
this breaking of bones, disintegration
of body, of time? How can it be
that what once glowed brightly
has turned so dark, so final?

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Copyright © 2021 Maureen Sherbondy All rights reserved
from Dancing with Dali
FutureCycle Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission