Demented Land

Aliens cross our borders
not all seeking better lives,
some intent on crime, terror,
yet we don’t regulate the flow
to distinguish friend from foe.
Drugs pervade our country
polluting streets, homes, schools
with fruits of toxic wealth
corrupting the system
that no longer protects us.
Our leaders tell us what they’ll do
if only we elect them,
yet nothing changes
for those who lost homes, jobs,
callously abandoned
by the glib servants
of the privileged few.

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.