Towards the Scorched Horizon²

Through shattered glass, the twilight seeps A pallid glow where silence keeps The school lies still, its halls entombed Laughter buried where shadows loomed Books remain, their pages charred Whispering truths of lives left scarred Deserted swings creak in the breeze Their rusted chains like broken pleas The reactor's heart, now cold and dread Yet its ghosts lingers, a fear widespread Its silent pulse, an invisible curse A poisoned vein through the universe Walls bear scars of a frantic flight A fleeting hope erased the night Where the air hums, and the black rain falls Through tangled roots, the city breathes Nature's fingers weave their wreaths The roads are veins, but no blood flows A hollow map where no one goes The ferris wheel stands, its arc divine A rustling relic of a forgotten time Each ticking second draws it near The weight of history too vast to clear Beneath the glow of a burning sky A world suspended, afraid to die Time itself has been undone Pripyat lies beneath no sun Its name a shadow, its people dust A tomb of steel and crumbling rust Towards the scorched horizon we tread Where life has fled, and hope is dead