Poetry: Gary Beck

Gary Beck

America Unfurled

Americans learned early

how to steal land from others

from British colonists

who quickly evicted the Dutch,

unwilling to let foreigners

occupy the tempting frontier

of the new world,

which they wanted for their own

without the faintest idea

of the size of the vast continent.

As more colonists arrived

they settled, needed more room,

then began the long usurpation

of Native American lands,

taking when strong,

negotiating when weak,

a pattern cleverly employed

until the colonies were strong enough

to dispute ownership with the French

and forcibly expel them.

As the colonies flourished

the British Empire grew,

spreading across the world

by conquest, trade, or both

a lesson to watchful colonists

conveniently gifted 

with the same genetic urge

to acquire land from others

on some occasions peacefully,

but almost always by war.

When the great separation began

between colonies and motherland

the King and Parliament were shocked

by the revolutionary fervor

of the graduate students

of advanced acquisition,

who thoroughly understood

that when someone grabs illegally

they establish a precedent

for others to grab illegally.

Thus began the great leap forward

as founders of the new nation

quickly consolidated the gains

from the recent revolution,

digested that they had defeated

the strongest empire in the world,

which sent a jolt of confidence

coursing through the covetous veins

of land hungry occidentals

willing to kill for their own farms.

The snatching of other people’s lands,

became the object of existence

for all those able to snatch

a new homestead, a new life.

And always distantly unseen

the men of wealth and hunger,

whose only mantra was more, more,

manipulated the masses

with pronouncements from Washington

like ‘Manifest Destiny’.

So we got rid of the foreigners,

Russians, French, the Spanish,

so we could concentrate efforts

on removing the Indians

who interfered with expansion

preventing exploration,

mining, farming, trade, settlements,

constricting acquisition of more,

so obstacles of progress

had to be eliminated.

Our fundamental greed

brought irreconcilable groups,

Northern industrial magnates,

Southern agricultural barons,

into inevitable conflict,

over who would rule the new empire.

When compromise was exhausted

they resolved their differences

in a bloody civil war

that ended Southern gentry rule.

Control of the future

of the partially battered land

liberally decided

by the use of gunpowder

the new lords of profit

knew few restrictions

in using the economy

to fund the fundamental urge

to acquire the land of others,

more by war then peacefully.

Reconstruction in the South

raised a new class to wealth, power,

then infected them with hunger

for the lands of others,

defeating the Sioux, Apaches,

until there was only one rule

from the Atlantic Ocean

to the Pacific Ocean

with increased appetite for more.

In our first offshore venture

we quickly assaulted

the crumbling Spanish Empire,

establishing our empire

in the Caribbean,

then in the Pacific.

And the new captive people

needed the benefit

of democracy,

enforced by the gun.

So we surprised the old dogs

in Europe and Asia

by displaying our power.

But they knew we were children.

When they exhausted themselves

in the biggest war ever,

they thought they outsmarted us

in the treaty of Versailles,

yet they never realized

we learned to fight a world war.

The ‘Great Depression’ shattered lives

of millions of Americans

who couldn’t drink legally

to forget their troubles

courtesy of the Volstead Act

that gave birth to organized crime

illicitly providing,

the booze that everyone craved,

generating enough wealth

to corrupt our government.

Yet the long soup kitchen lines

of the desperately hungry

dominated the media

and Hollywood pictures,

but concealed new factories

that began to produce

steel, oil, automobiles,

while our growing agriculture

began to feed a starving world,

adding to our wealth and power.

The seekers of expansion

ordered their armies to march

into weaker countries 

that could not resist

modern war machines.

Soon the world was engulfed

in devastating conflict

as invading hordes

ravaged the conquered,

looting captive nations.

Some foreign autocrats

did not realize

industrious America

created a mighty system

to produce massive amounts

for the necessities of war.

One peaceful December morning

when we were bombed into action

we quickly built ships, planes, tanks, guns

that defeated our enemies.

After a few bloody years

we inherited the earth,

inhabitants exhausted

by ravages of modern war.

Our legions camped in other lands

ensuring the new order

of economic dominance

would not know interference

as our sales of oil, steel, cars

did not have competitors.

So we rebuilt Japan

and rebuilt Germany,

challenged surly soviets,

reveling in the profits

 of glorious victory

as the dollar ruled the world.

When millions of soldiers

came back from World War II,

factories closed, they went to college

and became the middle class.

The cunning lords of profit

driven by relentless greed

successfully removed

those who would fight the bosses

for a fair share of earnings,

replaced them with a new class

that sat behind desks, computers

and became so prosperous

they would not risk losing all

in an idealistic fight.

Within established ‘Cold War’ rules

that ensured it wouldn’t become hot

we sent the legions to Vietnam

to preserve democracy.

As our youth were bleeding, dying

in a far off Asian land,

youth and supporters at home

vigorously protested the war,

alienating the true blue,

bitterly dividing the nation.

The ‘Great Schism’ distracted us

from innovative business deals

closing most of our factories

that cost too much to retool,

paid our workers too much

and offshored them abroad

where they didn’t pay taxes

and paid low wages

abandoning America

to make greater profits.

The protests of the Vietnam War

that divided the nation

made the lords of profit rejoice.

Instead of an aware people

following the affairs of state,

the media told the nation

we had become two opposed groups

each with their own agenda,

far more important to them

then the fate of our country.

Many citizens believed

republicans or democrats

knew what was best for our land.

Each party had mouthpieces,

media propagandists,

who told us what we should know.

They weren’t allowed to tell us

the 1% hired both sides

to keep us polarized

while the rich grew richer.

The evidence of betrayal

of the American people

is carefully concealed

so we argue with each other

as we grow poorer and poorer,

our land grows weaker and weaker,

since the rapacious 1%

are no longer invested

in the future of our land,

while their wealth is in other lands.

Our tragedy, America,

is that an indifferent few

determine the fate of many,

abandoning our tomorrow

by amalgamating our wealth

while impoverishing our land,

eroding our security

as we face many foreign foes,

while we do not realize

our empire is crumbling. 

***

Extinction Path

We do not go

into the streets

the way we used to,

fearing the virus

evolving faster

than our mindsets

dealing with it.

The plague on our land

dividing us,

as everything else

divides us,

revealing our failures,

as many prefer

a million deaths

to compromise.

*** 

Triumph

It’s not a rumor.

It’s true.

The infidel Americans

are finally departing,

defeated

by the holy warriors

as we defeated 

the infidel Russians.

Despite their tanks, drones,

helicopters,

the vaunted technology

that can never conquer

men of faith.

Now that we have our country

we will use it as our base

to bring Sharia

to the entire world.

God is great.

***

Failing Wings

I am old and tired.

Soon I won’t be able to fly,

then I’ll die.

There used to be many Grackles

soaring and displaying

in fields and towns

before humans drove us away

from feeding grounds.

So we went to the shore

where for a while

we entertained humans

walking fast on our long legs,

flashing our lustrous tails.

But there are fierce competitors,

gulls, pigeons, crows

who drive us away.

No one notices as we disappear

and it’s as if we never were,

for no one ever sees

a dead Grackle.

***

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Setu, June 2023