Ode to Central Park

by Gary Beck / August 27th, 2023

Green relief station
for concrete exiles
far from nature,
letting us see birds,
walk on grass,
breathe cleaner air
than exhaust pipe streets,
runners, bikers, dog walkers,
a large springtime flock
of Canadian geese
graze like cattle
on fenced in lawns,
tourists feeding turtles
in a teeming pond,
small jazz groups
with blaring horns, pounding drums,
a lonely cellist
bowing for acoustics
by the underpass,
something for almost everyone,
a city refuge.

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 27th, 2023 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.