THE ELEPHANT IS A FAT CAT

by Ed Shacklee


It’s amusing to balance the budget:
While common sense plans seldom pass,
There’s always some way you can fudge it,
Or drop it; it’s fragile as glass.

Let it go pear-shaped, the headlines
Scream panics and slumps — innuendos
Your granny will soon be in breadlines,
And bankers will jump from the windows

Like a biblical cloudburst of frogs;
But the fat will remain on the cats,
For whenever we’ve gone to the dogs,
The first to return are the rats.


Ed Shacklee is a public defender who represents young people in the District of Columbia.  His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in 14 by 14, the Flea, The Raintown Review and Shot Glass Journal, among other places.
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