Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE HONKER, by BERTON BRALEY Poet's Biography First Line: The pests among drivers are many and various Last Line: Honking his damnable horn! Subject(s): Driving & Drivers | ||||||||
The pests among drivers are many and various, Speed-hounds your comfort disturb, Drivers with natures and manners nefarious Crowd you up onto the curb; Still, I can always complacently nose along, Treating such trifles with scorn; What I can't stand is the driver who goes along Constantly honking his horn! "Honk! Honk! Honkety Honk!" (Gives you an ache in the back of your conk.) Honking at baby-carts motored by nurses, Honking at milkwagons, honking at hearses, Honking at eventide, honking at morn, Pest who infernally, Ever, eternally Honks his pestiferous horn! When traffic cops halt all the movement vehicular That doesn't bother this pest! He tears your nerves and your tissues auricular Honking with unalloyed zest. Busses and buggies and trucks and equestrians Timid old ladies forlorn, Pushcarts and lamp-posts and dogs and pedestrians He honks 'em all with his horn! "Honk! Honk! Honkety Honk!" (Is it plain meanness or thickness of conk?) Honking the Latin, the Jew and the Saxon, Unintermittently honking his Klaxon, Honking till tempers are ragged and torn, Pest who insistently, Near by or distantly Honks his provocative horn! He tears through the country when farmers are slumbering, Honking at shadows of trees, He honks through the cities, through crowds beyond numbering, Honking each person he sees. He honks when he stops, when he starts, when he's meeting you. It might quite truly be sworn, Judging his skill by the way he is greeting you He drives his car with the horn! "Honk! Honk! Honkety Honk!" (Oh for a dornick to bounce on his conk!) Honking at river and mountain and plain, Honking for pleasure and honking for pain, Honking when sober or jazzed up with corn. ("Honk! Honk! Honkety Honk.") Constantly honking his horn. Pest whose perpetual Stunt is to fret you all, Honking his damnable horn! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DRIVING WEST IN 1970 by ROBERT BLY DRIVING HOME by MADELINE DEFREES DRIVING INTO LARAMIE by JAMES GALVIN DIRECTIONS FOR CARRYING EXPLOSIVE NUCLEAR WASTES THROUGH ... by JUNE JORDAN PROMISING AUTHOR by CAROLYN KIZER AFTER TWELVE DAYS OF RAIN by DORIANNE LAUX FINDING WHAT'S LOST by DORIANNE LAUX SINGING BACK THE WORLD by DORIANNE LAUX |
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