Transient

by Gary Beck / June 16th, 2019

Tourists pass the homeless
huddled on 42nd street,
pay them no mind,
inured to the homeless
on the streets at home,
too numerous for salvation
elaborately ignored
until a disturbed reject
invades personal space
demanding change,
attention,
a lifeline to humanity,
easily forgotten,
unless he attacks
those who are better off.

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, June 16th, 2019 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.