Gamma Waves on the Beach

I bask on the radioactive beach,
    the gamma waves lap at my white blood cells
    warming me to the marrow of my bones.
The sunlight and waves
    are a last sensual reassurance of God’s love
    before the cold and radiation sickness begins.
I and my swallowed capsule and what’s left
    of my white blood count will go to sleep
    here on the beach and dream of a tomorrow.

—a young woman
  York Peninsula
  Australia