Gregory Gunn’s most recent poem to appear here was “Onset of Autumn” (October 2016) 

Surviving Modern Thermopylae
By Gregory Gunn

Here you must wear a pair
of the best asbestos gloves,
steel-toed work boots, and
well-insulated coveralls.

You have to look closely
through a welder’s chitinous
mask, And pull on a heavy
executioner’s cowl.

Always ensure that you
utilize heavy-duty calipers
and tongs whenever handling
hazardous materials.

You function kind of
incognito, cautious as hell,
oddly pushing aside
the power of disintegrating
objects whose ions get
far too excited in search
of an armoured Spartan
such as Leonidas.