Protest IX

by Gary Beck / February 11th, 2018

Winter is near,
we pitched tents
in occupied park,
bought heaters,
got mom to send warm socks,
prepared to stay
no matter how cold
to remind everyone
about injustice
rewarding the few,
impoverishing the many,
but the wealthy mayor
ordered tents taken down
so we’d melt away
with the first snow,
stop annoying
the servants of privilege,
yet some of us stayed
despite the coming freeze
hoping Americans
might remember Valley Forge.

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 39 poetry collections, 14 novels, 4 short story collections, 1 collection of essays and 7 books of plays. Gary lives in New York City. Read other articles by Gary.

This article was posted on Sunday, February 11th, 2018 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.