Introduction to the Poet:

Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director, and as an art dealer when he couldn’t make a living in theater. He has 11 published chapbooks and 3 more accepted for publication. His poetry collections include: Days of Destruction (Skive Press), Expectations (Rogue Scholars Press). Dawn in Cities, Assault on Nature, Songs of a Clerk, Civilized Ways, Displays, Perceptions (Winter Goose Publishing). Fault Lines, Tremors, Perturbations, Rude Awakenings and The Remission of Order will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. Conditioned Response (Nazar Look). Resonance (Dreaming Big Publications). His novels include: Extreme Change (Cogwheel Press), Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing) and Call to Valor (Gnome on Pigs Productions). Sudden Conflicts will be published by Lillicat Publishers and State of Rage by Rainy Day Reads Publishing. His short story collection, A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications). Now I Accuse and other stories will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. 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. He currently lives in New York City..

The Nature of Cities VI

Evolved monstrosities

of fractious disorder,

deluding dwellers

with glims of culture

that only console

the comfortable,

while the masses struggle

to endure chaos,

mad construction

assaulting citizens,

uprooting tendrils

clutching for survival.

The Flow of Capital

Business is a profession

that does valuable service

for people who grow things

with expertise in crop yields,

not the process of transactions.

And when people left the soil

for the cities, the factories,

they upgraded limited skills,

adapting to new conditions,

but were still dependent

on specialists.

Then we confused businessmen

with doctors, soldiers, scientists,

more vital practitioners

maintaining the health of the nation.

When we answered the summons

to purchase homes, invest in stocks,

we relied on the greedy,

or the inept, who squandered wealth,

then abandoned us

when the system collapsed,

callously bailing out

in golden parachutes.

Benefits of Democracy

Political disclosures

of graft and corruption

no longer shock us,

media educated

between commercials

for instant reception

of sins of commission,

quickly forgotten

when the program continues.