Long Klaxon Poems

Sonnets LII-LX

The Endeavors of Lips
by Michael R. Burch

How sweet the endeavors of lips: to speak
of the heights of those pleasures which left us weak
in love’s strangely lit beds, where the cold springs creak:
for there is...

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(or swing sets and monkey bars)

A pitch perfect spring day
such as today April 8th, 2022
within quaint hamlet 
of Schwenksville, Pennsylvania
in close proximity within mind's eye
to Lake Wobegon, Minnesota
finds me reminiscing...

When, scads of light years ago
(half...

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The klaxon sounds and off we do scurry
Up to the gun house we head in a hurry

Through narrow p-ways and up noisy stairs
We pass each other with far away glares

What threat to meet, all do...

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Third level CCTV audio recordings
of the last occupants illegally departing the 
quasi-safe, Area 4, Sector 9 quarantine zone
— Seventh vol. of the Ghetto Chronicles 


We hate to see you all go,
good company is hard to...

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When, while a father with two young girls,
ah charming children indeed
both wrapped around mine middle finger,
whose playful rebukes
this papa did heed
(who wished for a son),
he never did breed)
aplomb (fig your at Tivoli) found me

taking their...

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What are we feeling.? In us,  I address the whole of humanity.' Where are we destined or
Are we bound.? Or are we just bound.? By an ology of idealisam.? Isams idols icons;  isas
I...

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"Hyar she comes!  The weekly stagecoach is a-comin' to old Santa Fe!"
The driver cracked his whip and blowed his klaxon to herald the way!

The weekly arrival of the stagecoach was cause fer raucous celebration!
The...

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A flood of grackles,
black-leafing the tree
who seem to’ve forgot
that its not
Winter;
it’s Spring and everything
is about to flower.

Eva says they are starling
and they may be.
She says they crowd the uncrowded 
barebranch trees and blot out
the sun...

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Breach alarm klaxon blaring


There’s nothing to see ... 
just pretend like you didn’t hear 
that warning sound

Don’t be alarmed:
Take a couple of these Valium chill pills
to help calm your nerves down

Do you like the soothing,...

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There they rested on rusting rails so regal yet so stark.
An old steam engine and its caboose now sit silent in the park.
Since I was on a casual stroll and had some time to squander,
I...

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I can't recall the last time I've had a good night's rest.
It ain't because I'm stressed or restless or depressed.
Nor is it the fitful snorin' of my spouse sprawlin' by my side.
It's that consarned nocturnal...

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And, now I lay me down to sleep,
For another wretched night of counting sheep!
Lord, should I expire before I awake,
Please allow me some zzzzzzzzs for heavens sake!

The cat has leaped upon the bed,
And snuggles closely...

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Got kold hatred in their eyes,
so kadaver kold
The killer gaze kuickly komes alive,
whenever the wrong kolor
neighborly arrive

Kagily enter into the dark domain Kape Fear,
where brothas ain’t burning cross welcome here

Mister Kady,
the kosplay kaptain
of kritter kontrol,
tells...

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Auto Pilate
is carrion klaxon blaring
a false viral alert 

The warning signal says cadavers don’t vote:
“Let not your lying eyes
believe this smear currency contagious hoax”

With pandemic fear spreading,
speculator pockets get fatally hurt
False profits on a spit...

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Sometimes a whisper,
desperate to join the real world
calls out from the tower,
the cry of many memories trapped
within the egron of time.
Sometimes!  Deafen by the silence
one hears the exhaust fans
out of balance, a simmering
smoke stack...

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Baking was not an option, 
long gone were the days (and nights!) of crème brûlée  and bûche noël.
Such delicacies have taken a more...paternalistic
approach, 
abstaining stove-works entirely, 
however slippery, 
often guided by such vintage luminarians...

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You were born on the eve
of the silent drone tracer lights
Three hours before the bombs first fell
This would be the only peace
your war baby eyes would ever see
Destruction was the sound of your tattered
and rattling...

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WINDY   DAY  IN  THE  CITY

Strain  unwillingly  round the  city street  corner 
Into   flurry  of  police   klaxon-horn  or 
Double-deck bus...

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It was an ordinary kind of day,
You had left me to go to work
And drop off Denny at school

A factory klaxon was sounding
In the distance; and I pictured the 
Morning shift dragging the night's 
Dreams...

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The optimistic side of me wants
to believe that my fear
keeps me safe.

That there's a reason I 
check over my shoulder at the slightest
Noise.

That it’s just the caffeine 
making my heart flutter. That 
if I reject...

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