Tormented Era

by Gary Beck / April 30th, 2017

The death of a child
by brutal hand
of father, uncle, boyfriend,
has become normal
since we’ve forgotten
simple values.
Too many agitate
for personal gain
while the government decays,
privileged officials
consume the public trust,
collaborating with the wealthy
to do away with unions,
reduce the middle class,
remove all groups
willing to resist
those devouring our resources.
The extravagance of few
while many suffer
has become normal
until we no longer know
how to prevent the aristos
from eroding our future.

Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn't earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. 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 and his published books include 40 poetry collections, 16 novels, 4 short story collections, 2 collection of essays and 8 books of plays. Gary lives in New York City. Read other articles by Gary.

This article was posted on Sunday, April 30th, 2017 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.