Flag Stoned
The bunting had fallen
and strung in its place
long blown metres
of roadwork tape:
Our town had spent
all the developers’ tax
on wider footpaths,
which will now crack
under the weight
of various vans,
part-parked on kerbs
by the delivery man,
who will still take up
one of those lanes,
blocking the street
back to the library (again).
Ask the shop-keepers
if it was worth the chaos,
screwing the high street
for a developer’s pay-off.