Local government

Elected servants rush to heed

Commerce's every need,

Back-slaps invoking power and greed,

Revoking planning creed.

Kowtowing to wealth's dance and song,

Where men speak loud and long;

Just one lone voice in that mad throng,

She stands, opposing wrong.

I watch these dramas all unfold,

Such blindness leaves me cold,

This fragile place bulldozed, steamrolled,

Our future swapped for gold.

Rapaciousness gone off the rails,

Relentless wanton wails;

Our paper charts the squalid tales,

Shows how this system fails.

Abused, ignored, veiled threats to sue

Malign our motley crew;

We gather skills, and people too,

Earth's justice overdue.

Shirley Hotchkiss, Umina Copyright (c) 2005