Like Pompeii

Will it be like Pompeii

when Baker finally blows?

Will runners be eternally frozen on their second,

or possibly third, loop on the backside of Padden?

Will Lummi kids be caught forever playing chase

on the riverbank near Marietta?

Will cars be perpetually jammed at

border crossings in Blaine, Lynden and Sumas?

Will newborn calves be calcified suckling

their mother’s teats on farms around the county?

Will the neo-punk, quasi-hippie, post-grunge,

sort of goth street kids be forever huddled

on the corner of Railroad and Magnolia,

bantering with the spandex-clad city cops

astride their requisite bikes?

Will the Governor be secretly sparring

with FEMA and Homeland Security

while the Red Cross steals the lead

on the evening news?

Will a rapidly produced, “sensational, gut-wrenching”
Made-for-TV movie be the inevitable dénouement?