The Blessed Birds Will Sing No More

The Blessed Island was so poorly named,

As from that day in March the land was cursed.

Did Nature feel that mankind should be blamed?

The Earthquake caused the safety valve to burst.

And now as we research and class the scene,

We observe that the radiation falls

In time will this seem like a distant dream;

The air will it vibrate with lost bird calls?

The great healer does anti-correlate,

Abundance and diversity decrease,

The birds seem sadly consigned to their fate

And sightings of the Barn Swallow will cease.

The fallout will be more than a clipped wing:

One day the blessed birds they will not sing.

This is a Shakespearian Sonnet, written about the cumulative effects of radioactivity from Fukushima on the abundance and biodiversity of birds.