The West Hollywood City Council will decide on Monday whether to create the position of poet laureate.
The poet laureate will “act as a champion for poetry, language and the arts and would create a unique artistic legacy through public readings and civic interactions,” says a proposal that will go before the Council.
The poet laureate will receive a stipend of $1,500 a year and be required to perform certain duties, including writing and publishing an original poem celebrating West Hollywood.
Those of us at WEHOville.com thought we’d take a stab at that. Our poem is posted below (with apologies to Ilene Bauer, one of whose poems we adapted for the work below. After all, we’re journalists and our work doesn’t have to rhyme.)
We’d like to encourage you, dear readers, to submit your poems celebrating West Hollywood in the comments section below. We’ll pass them along to the city’s arts and culture staff.
Just think, a stipend like $1,500 might cover the rent on your studio apartment for a month — or help you pay off those outstanding parking tickets.
In WeHo, you can easily tell
How big is the budget,
You don’t have to really be
A CFO to judge it.
You don’t find out by hearing
Someone pass a stray remark;
The information’s gleaned by noting
What it costs to park.
The meters race really fast
Gobbling quarters by the minute;
The parking cops are out in force,
Hoping you’ll cross the limit.
A minute late, you’ll get a ticket
Whose cost could cover dinner.
You moan and groan and pay the thing,
And swear like a sinner.
But a city has to pay its bills,
And those fancy salaries.
What better way to find the cash,
Than fining drivers hourly?
— With apologies to Ilene Bauer
