1. |
Standing On 85th
01:24
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STANDING ON 85TH
How many footsteps our streets withstand
The weight of our collective marching
We gather as a testament
Hoofbeats coming for a reckoning
How many monumental moments pass
Roped & tugged until base gives up
History that remains in bronze
Buckles like pounded pavement
How many signs send a signal
Graffiti doesn’t need to be decoded
Staccato horns broadcast our message
Fists & waves for we who stand
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2. |
Call And Response
01:15
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CALL & RESPONSE
who knows first
who sees first
who hears first
who speaks first
who cries first
who shoots first
who hits first
who lies first
who sprays first
who bombs first
who kills first
who dies first
who thirsts first
who strives first
who lives first
who stands first
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3. |
Love During Quarantine
01:19
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LOVE DURING QUARANTINE
Close enough to catch your breath
Each touch reduced to airborne
We take refuge behind barriers of ply
When intimacy becomes imposed
Incoming missives become mandates
Blankets provide our only cover
Let’s whisper ventilated unfiltered
Mark the walls to tally each passing day
Closer to closing this distance between us
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4. |
Oregon
01:11
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OREGON
Our sister calls
She’s tightening the laces
Of her combat boots
Unmarked vans
Patrol her disputed streets
Circling for ideas to arrest
She waves
Behind makeshift barricade
Where the line gets drawn
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5. |
||||
TALKIN MAIL-IN BALLOT BLUES
I’m gonna let you know how I feel
I’m going to let you know exactly how I feel
Don’t tell me I don’t count ’cause I dropped it in the mail
Let me add to the tally of those opposed
Let me add to the tally of those who stand opposed
Don’t tell me I don’t count ’cause I dropped it in the mail
I say watch me sign in blood instead of ink
Watch me sign in blood instead of ink
Don’t tell me I don’t count ’cause I dropped it in the mail
I sealed your fate & even got my postmark
I did I sealed your fate & I even got a postmark
Don’t tell me I don’t count ’cause I dropped it in the mail
My ballot was delivered now it's time you go
I know my ballot was delivered so now it's time for you to go
Don’t tell me I don’t count ’cause I dropped it in the mail
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6. |
Fake News
01:38
|
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FAKE NEWS
Tune in
Tune out
100 channels
Spin about
Latest poll
Data shows
A spike or
All-time lows
Expert after
Expert reports
Who's the source
Whose retort
In real time
Crisis unfolds
Next cycle
Story's untold
One side
Two sides
No side
Decides
Streaming live
Tweeting memes
Experimental drugs
Work for me
News cycle
Ready to spin
Never meant
To let you win
Keep watch
7x24
A knock
Your front door
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7. |
||||
BORN UNDER A WANING GIBBOUS
for Eliot Lyle Burgess-Lundin, b. 2020.05.11
O how hope arrives
Wrapped in a rainbow
As satisfied as Hotei
Before the world flattens again
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8. |
Ode To The Bunker II
01:30
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ODE TO THE BUNKER II
To your blanket-covered windows
To your sandbagged front porch
Protect what pursuit remains
To your kitchen where loyal gather
To your alley where patrol dog barks
Protect what pursuit remains
To your shut-down streets
To your vigilance
Protect what pursuit remains
To your arms that embrace
To your love that liberates
Protect what pursuit remains
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9. |
Shitshow
01:06
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SHITSHOW
unravel begets
contempt begets
rigid begets
order begets
law begets
clash begets
war begets
god begets
more revolution
begets more
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10. |
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BURY ME IN AN UNMARKED GRAVE
Bury me in an unmarked grave
Your shovel leaving nothing but
A low mound of dirt my monument
Let my bones disassemble intertwine
With holy bones of comrades
With silenced tongues of poets
Cover my omissions my impediment
Like a manifesto never published
I remain forgotten unforgiven
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John Burgess Seattle, Washington
John Burgess writes poetry in public places. His first book was Punk Poems from Ravenna Press.
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