Third World

by Gary Beck / August 9th, 2020

People wander through the park
aimless, relaxed, cheerful,
enjoying the moment
without the faintest idea
our frayed society
is careening to disaster.
Unlike other times
in history
when coincidence,
miracle, proper actions
saved the day,
the paucity of our leaders
painfully reminds us
they cannot help us
and most don’t ever care.

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, August 9th, 2020 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.