Burlington City Council Sonnet #2

The coffers of Burlington were on display
at last night’s lengthy city council meeting,
so every councilor who chose to enter the fray
was visibly concerned with budget-sheeting.
The loudest warning call emerged from Shannon,
who worries that our streets are under duress.
Our pavement’s cracked, she said, or poorly managed,
yet infrastructure hasn’t been fully “addressed.”

Or what, said Shannon, of our pretty parks —
We shouldn’t let them languish in the breeze!
(The windows of City Hall by then were dark.)
Take care to not miss forests for the trees,
Ol’ Leopold, the C.A.O., did note;
“I wish that we had more,” he sighed, “but we don’t.”

This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2008.

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