Pripyat: City Reverting to Nature

Abandoned now for thirty plus years
After the Chernobyl explosion
The City of Pripyat's reverting to nature,
The buildings subject to erosion.

Flowers grow through the pavements
Moss grows on the roads
The animal populace grows.
Nature reclaims what humans desert
Seeds blown by the wind are then sown.

Empty school dormitories are now home to birds;
The glass in the windows is broken.
Birds fly in and fly out and build their nests there:
They are disturbed by no-one.

The old soccer field is covered with trees
A deciduous forest, as years ago.
The seats are all rotting, the Ferris wheel rusts
And plantation continues to grow.

Nature will recover when we are gone
Though we should protect it while we are here
Nature’s resilient as Pripyat’s wildlife shows:
Squirrels, wild boar and red deer.