Poetry: Gary Beck

Gary Beck

Greed

The glaciers are melting.

The seas are rising.

Storms get bigger,

far more destructive.

Wild fires get wilder,

drought across the land,

natural disasters

increasing daily,

but the powers that be

will cease to profit

if we take urgent steps

to avert climate change,

preferring the collapse

of our environment,

rather than give up

exercising power,

wallowing in comforts.

***

Economic Threat

American railroads

once the only sure way

to cross the country,

have been mostly replaced

by impatient passengers

with airline travel.

But railroad owners

are making record profits

hauling vital freight

that keeps the nation going,

yet they will not fairly share

the money that enriches them

with railroad employees

who get almost no sick time

while giving their best

to demanding jobs.

Though most unions in our land

have lost power to the bosses

if the railroad workers strike

they will paralyze the nation

still struggling with inflation,

as well as other burdens

in a time of division.

***

Polluted Minds

It’s midterm Election Day

and unlike years ago

when people did not know

who they would vote for

until the last minute

when they reached the polls

today we are certain,

the country so polarized

most of us are decided

not always for good reasons,

some full of anger and hate

spewing ugly theories

of evil conspiracies

plotting to enslave them,

encouraged by a few

who want to end democracy,

replace it with autocracy,

so they can tell us what to do

then compel us to obey

either with illegal laws,

or unjustified arrests,

urgent to shatter the idea

of a free society.

***

Systemic Failures

Winter will be coming soon.

We lack fuel for power, heat

and our leaders are away

on luxurious vacations,

or going through the motions

of pretending to govern.

We don’t know how to get help

as our suffering gets worse.

When freezing weather arrives

many of us will perish,

especially the aging,

while righteous politicians

continue their promises

of aid in our time of need.

***

United We…

The pressure on Americans

continues to accelerate

undermining security

until we are so distracted

from the problems of the future

that we neglect the procedures

to ensure a safe tomorrow.

So many threats that affect us:

Covid, hurricanes, Monkey Pox,

wild fires, resurging polio.

The chaos of our politics

prevents agreement, compromise,

leaving voters in confusion

about the real issues we face,

instead demanding we take sides

with one of the disputing groups

rather than cooperating

to achieve vital solutions

to the impending disasters

that will devastate our nation

if we do not join together

and end the dangerous impasse

that will destroy the promised dream.

***

---

Setu, February 2025