I was the Atomic Bomb's First Victim!

Watching Oppenheimer
made me think of Cronenberg's
masterpiece "Videodrome".

Oppenheimer, like Professor
Brian Oblivion, appears in control,
but in reality,
he was
the atomic bomb's
first victim—

Professor Brian Oblivion
can only say
via video tape

that
he was
Videodrome's
first victim,

and like Oppenheimer,
he is consumed
by forces
beyond his control,

and like Faust,
his deal with the Devil
(or the military)

costs Oppenheimer
his soul,

and like Professor
Brian Oblivion
from Videodrome,

we watch him disintegrate
before us
in morbid fascination,

our fate trapped
within his sad eyes…

Jean Jones has an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. He teaches English as a Second Language part-time at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, and is regularly published by Horror Zine and Aphelion Webzine.

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