Poetry: Gary Beck

Gary Beck

Separation

Unrequited love
festers in the soul,
smoldering with resentment,
poisonous,
consuming restraint,
obsessed with rage
ignoring orders of protection
from a far away court,
absent when needed
to prevent the visit
of a demented lover
with an automatic weapon,
preferring murder
of the object of desire
rather than accept
painful rejection.

Primal Urge

Long before reason
arrived to moderate
basic inclinations
that dangerously diluted
constants of the species,
survive, reproduce, expand,
enactments were simpler,
existence determined
in violent moments
in rapid resolution.
 

Service

Temples of commerce
cultivate desire
of non-warriors
not risking life, limb
acquiring profit,
avoiding battle,
absorbed in living well,
sleeping soundly,
as long as soldiers
guard the walls.
 

Disturbance

Rambunctious ramblings
of discarded youth
cause commotion
unappreciated
by sedate citizens
impatient with cavortings
of the disaffected
urgent for diversion,
however asocial,
aggravating
those more concerned
with loss of homes, jobs.

Protest VIII

Agitators gather
in a public space
fueled by outrage
at a callous system
rewarding the few,
impoverishing many,
while the silent majority
turn to tv shows,
video games,
social media
ignoring arrests   
of seekers of justice.

Setu, January 2018