Gary Beck- Three Poems

Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director, and as an art dealer when he couldn’t make a living in theater. He has 11 published chapbooks. His poetry collections include: Days of Destruction (Skive Press), Expectations (Rogue Scholars Press). Dawn in Cities, Assault on Nature, Songs of a Clerk, Civilized Ways, Displays (Winter Goose Publishing). Fault Lines, Perceptions, Tremors, Perturbations, Rude Awakenings and The Remission of Order will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. Conditioned Response (Nazar Look). Resonance (Dreaming Big Publications). His novels include: Extreme Change (Cogwheel Press) Acts of Defiance (Artema Press). Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing). Call to Valor will be published by Gnome on Pigs Productions. His short story collection, A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications). Now I Accuse and other stories will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines. He currently lives in New York City.

 

 

Distorted Values

 

Sports consume

more media coverage,

then Afghanistan,

where volunteer troops

bleed, die

in a hostile country

resisting outsiders,

which assures locals

they can kill each other

as soon as strangers depart.

Why we went in

no longer matters,

an irrational act

invading a country

that made Vietnam

seem sane by comparison.

But capitalists must profit

first using up old war materials

then selling new war materials.

 

Since our troops are not draftees

there isn't public resistance

to war far away,

reminding some of us

of the Roman Empire                                                   

sending legions abroad

to conquer alien lands,

and when the fighting ended

the troops were forgotten,

because it took weeks to get news

that only affected a few,

friends and families

of distant soldiers,

perhaps leaders of the nation,

while the general public

dealt with greater problems,

day to day existence,

not much different today

despite instant news

from voracious media.

 

 

 

Moments

 

The last cherry blossoms have fallen.

Only pink leaves remain,

swirling on the tainted ground,

eddies of fading petals

reminding those who notice

of the briefness of beauty.

 

 

Troubled Times

 

Across this troubled land

disasters strike,

hurricanes, tornados, floods,

disruptive  terrorism,

yet tourists flock

to New York City

spreading their wealth

to the greedy,

rarely to the needy

suffering foreign invasion

with the bitter acceptance

of all tribulations.