A meteorite was discovered
In Arizona.
An atom bomb blew up
In New Mexico.

I got to thinking,
I have both! In my hutch!
Facing me, feng shway not!

A friend back-when gave
My husband a plaque, spirit
To spirit, with an inch and a half
By an inch piece of blasted .. what? A
Slaggy form of ‘glass’, smooth on top,
Cragged, where edges look snapped off.
In a weirding green and gray…

The plaque’s label reads:

TRINITITE, created by the heat of the
World’s first atomic explosion on July 16.
1945 at 5:29:45 am. St**en from the Trinity
Site, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
October 7, 1989

I’ve stroked this bit of ‘that’, less than
A hand of fingers, but I have. Knowing irradiation
Was a possibility. Good thing I didn’t pry it from its
Place to accompany me in my life. It’s been in the hutch,
Watching me, for years.

On the other hand, I’d forgotten
The meteorite my mom finickely gave me,
My grandparents find, I’m told, also sitting
In the hutch; the story of the meteorite streaking
Across Canada’s provincial sky reminded me of it.

So, I went and got it out, hefted its undersized weight,
Smelled it, thought, and, absently rubbed a left thumb
Skin-thing against its rough-edged surface. “Oh, Jeez!” I
Thought, “If it is a meteor-life-form from our outer space, I’ve
Just contaminated it! With a virus, of all things!” Then, I thought,
“Maybe It might help cure this sub-war-t, after all!” So I scraped
Unwanted skin cells away with its beauty. Marring its own. My
Specialty, dissection.

I went to cleanse the object, but mostly just rinsed it off
With hot water, put it into a small paper towel and brought
It back to the computer with me. Where, forgotten, TRINITITE
Lay. I checked my computer stuff, some minutes passing, and,
Relaxing, placed my left hand on the ‘paper towel’. It felt warm.
“Oh my god!” I thought. I unbundled its form, picking It up, thinking
It would go cold within a human’s touch. It didn’t. I put it down.
I picked it up, I put it down, and started writing.

So, the plaque and the rock are inches away, from me and themselves.

I’m putting TRINITITE back in the hutch, untouched, meteorite stays with me.

Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen
© Copyright 11/22/08