Summer Siren

by G. Jack Urso

 

my city sings a summer song

with sirens, shouts, honks, and horns

solar rays over an asphalt haze

lingering long lunar days

 

basketballs poppin’ off the pavement

like bare feet on hot sand

running bases, bicycle races

dirty sneakers with untied laces

fire hydrants drenching a burning land

 

comic books, gumballs,

fireworks, a lemonade stand

hot dogs, hamburgers,

the ice cream man

fistfights, tree forts,

sleeping under the moon

will-o'-the-wisps . . . gone too soon

 

all sorts of things

with skies and wings

on the edge

under the sun that warms

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All Sorts of Things (1973), With Skies and Wings (1973), On the Edge (1973), and The Sun that Warms (1970) are the titles of elementary school readers published by Ginn and Company. All images from The Sun that Warms. I used these textbooks in the 6th grade with Mrs. Skalko at Public School #19, Albany, NY, 1975-1976. See below (I'm third from right in the back row). 

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