The forest shuttered.
There was no computer model for that phenomenon.

A new stream pushed
radioactive particles into the reservoir.

The city council
had no experience with such shedding.

Gender equality was on the agenda
but the review panel’s report was never read into the record.

A woman of color tabulated with an iPad
the health physics of human causes and effects.

The team sent out to determine
if a new crack formed in the earth’s crust never returned.

Someone got scared and waved a gun around.
The police applied a measured response that ended peacefully.

The issue is not health but liability
according to the former insurance adjuster on the council.

In the roundhouse, the debate centered on reparations
for evicted homesteaders with no consideration for the tribes.

The forest shuddered a second time
then lifted off in a cloud of dust headed for who knows where.

copyright © 2022 Kenneth P. Gurney

Note: The roundhouse is the building where the New Mexico state government assembles and has all of the representatives’ offices and meeting chambers.