Swapping Geigers for scales searching for residue that clings to the surface like scalded shadows. Slithering vicariously across the topsoil we sidewind to forbidden horizons, undulating through memories that linger longer than we dared dream. Can we ever return? We ask, as you seek refuge beneath the corrugated roofs of our abandoned shacks. A living concertina that unfurls beneath a skyline as home. A Japanese rat snake crossing a rural road in the Fukushima Evacuation Zone in Japan (Image Credit: Hannah Gerke). This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that rat snakes can be used to potentially reveal radiation levels in the soil around Fukushima.