The Fate of the Quarreling Village

External change strikes
Just at that moment,
Igniting drama
That explodes itself—
The town is shattered.

Its identity
Collapses and burns.
The flood, the wildfire,
Whatever it was,
Sweeps through one evening

As the families fought
About chores and trash,
While the town council
Quarreled over signs
And zoning issues,

As a brawl broke out
In the last strip club
Just outside of town,
Next to the pawn shop
And defunct motel.

This is all fiction.
That village is gone.
It burned or it drowned,
The consequence of
Modeling a world.