[Newspoetry] Los Alamos Burns

[Mike Lehman]

Los Alamos, NM 
(United Poetry Internationale)

	In a stinging rebuke to the messing with Mother Nature they have done
over the years since 1943, the nuclear scientists of Los Alamos
evacuated their town today.  The wildfire that has burned near the town
for several days has overrun the nuclear weapons that were the last line
of defense.
	"We thought we could stop Her, but we've apparently gone to far. She
won't be placated," said I.P. Frely, world famous nuclear design
technician.  The last hope had been to use a nuclear "backfire" to block
the flames, but gusts of wind isolated the bunkers containing suitcase
nukes suitable for such a task before they could be emplaced.
	"Our last hope is the US Air Force, but we're a little worried about
that.  They insist they have to destroy the town to save it and my wife
won't hear of it.  All her good china is still back there somewhere,"
said an exhausted Frely.
	Mother Nature could not be reached for comment.  There are rumors that
the FBI has applied for a warrant to arrest Her for domestic
terroroism.  If convicted, the entire country would have to be
locked-down, since there aren't any prisons, despite a frantic US prison
construction program, big enough to hold Her.
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