By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Each year around now
we red ink our pens,
calling out Holiday Grinches
for cruel deadline sins.
Proposal staff yearn
for some time round the fire
with family and friends
to become reinspired.
This year more than some
those wishes are dashed.
Proposals are due!
Crank them out, gentle staff!
The Bah Humbug! Awards
are our annual call-out
To give these taskmasters
some much-deserved fallout.
Dec. 28
ADOT demands
a third floor renovation.
Their deadline is firm;
They’ll hear no supplications.
Chino Valley wants
Re-charge permit renewals.
More time can’t be bought
not with cash, not with jewels.
Dec. 29
EPS/Trillium/Buckeye
wants a brand new core lake.
Don’t dream about sugarplums;
to get it done, stay awake!
Phoenix needs the design
for some sewer relief.
Alignments and drawings
must be pitched now (Good Grief!).
Tempe: parts and service
for a whole set of pumps.
They care not for your parties;
They must think you’re chumps.
Tempe wants also the same
for some variable drives.
They’re wringing the joy
from our cold, tired lives.
Dec. 31
Finally now New Year’s Eve.
Party time! Off to roam!
Except Navajo Nation
needs modular homes.
ASU’s annual need
for facility service
leaves downtrodden proposers
all twitchy and nervous.
Jan. 3
You’ve pushed through your hangover
You’ve done it. My word.
Too bad the whole world
has things due on Jan Third.
Air Force wants Luke Pavement
Corrections: HVAC
They also want wastewater
for facilities, see?
Lake Havasu City needs
Fueling improvements.
Don’t stop to rest.
Get on it! Go do it!
They’ll also need rehab
for a collector well.
The work’s never-ending.
Does this all ring a bell?
Avondale needs your pitch
For environmental review.
MUSD wants a well liner casing.
A hug from a straitjacket is all you’ll be embracing.
Military Affairs is treating
waste in Marana.
No time for a daiquiri.
Just go eat a banana.
These holiday deadlines
we know have you vexed.
Still, take some Holiday comfort
From your old friends at BEX.