Enewetok Atoll, 1954

Tiny murex snail shell, talisman of sorrow,

Shaped like grenade or pandanus that's cracked,

Foundling from despoiled sea and atomic gallows.

Tiny murex snail shell, talisman of sorrow,

Left behind in diaspora that followed;

All poisoning traveled thru marrows intact.

Tiny murex snail shell, talisman of sorrow,

Shaped like grenade or pandanus that's cracked.

Laura Stickney 2025

Notes:

Enewetak Atoll-- Large atoll of islands

in the Marshall Islands. Forty-three 

atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted

by US military in Enewetak Atoll from 1948

to 1958. Enewetak Atoll is still radioactive

today. Contaminated soil is stored on site

within a huge concrete dome that itself is

cracking.  

Murex-- Marine gastropods. The snail shell

in photograph is a Tenguella granulata from

Enewetak Atoll.

Pandanus-- A tropical plant with fibrous, edible

fruit.

Diaspora-- At Enewetak Atoll, prior to nuclear

tests, people of Enewetak experienced forced

dispersion and removal from their original

homeland. They developed illnesses from

radioactive fallout and widespread contamination

throughout the area.

Photograph of murex snail shell by Laura Stickney