Deaccession

As the city we love
submerges
into decay,
stores closing everywhere
no one concerned enough
to stop decline,
the wealthy secure
in castles of comfort
indifferent
to loss of jobs, homes,
and the people are silent,
overwhelmed
by disaster waiting
to embrace us.

Conditioned by the media
to passively accept
threats to existence.
we do not protest
the collapse of our future,
since it creeps up
on stealthy paws,
rather than Goth invasion.

And as prosperity seeps away
the privileged revel,
either too stupid to recognize
dependency on the people,
or too uncaring,
engrossed in fleeting pleasures,
blandly assuming
they’ll sail to safety
on mega-yachts,
find luxurious refuge
in another land,
continue their feasting.

Gary Beck spent his life as a theater director/playwright. He has had 21 poetry books, 7 novels, 3 short story collections and 1 book of essays published. Gary’s original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off-Broadway in New York City, where he resides. Read other articles by Gary.