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. 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 (Winter Goose Publishing). Perceptions, Fault Lines and Tremors will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. Conditioned Response (Nazar Look). Blossoms of Decay will be published by Nazar Look. Resonance will be published by Dreaming Big Press. His novels include: Extreme Change (Cogwheel Press) Acts of Defiance (Artema Press). Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing). His short story collection, A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications). 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.

                Unnatural Selection

A giant storm is coming
and people rush to prepare,
hurrying to supermarkets, hardware stores,
the sensible buying candles,
batteries, water, dried food,
thinking about survival.
The stupid buy beer, drugs, candy,
waiting to be entertained
by a destructive force
that no longer removes
the unfit, mentally deficient,
protected by big screen tvs.


                       Choices

​It is better to strive
for fragile happiness,
especially
when things go wrong
and misery beckons,
eager to encourage
self-pity, withdrawal
from the constant struggle
that afflicts us daily
in this demanding life
that promises no tomorrows,
except to the deluded
who cannot conceive
that their departure
may be a moment away,
decided abruptly
by the coincidence of fate.

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. 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 (Winter Goose Publishing). Perceptions, Fault Lines and Tremors will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. Conditioned Response (Nazar Look). Blossoms of Decay will be published by Nazar Look. Resonance will be published by Dreaming Big Press. His novels include: Extreme Change (Cogwheel Press) Acts of Defiance (Artema Press). Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing). His short story collection, A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications). 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.

(Photo by Nancy Beck)

TRANSITIONS by Gary Beck

UNKNOWN FUTURE

I do not fear
that I will cease to be,
having consumed enough fear
in my anguished lifetime
to drown my sensibilities
in a flood of denials.
So whatever comes next,
nothingness,
(beyond my comprehension
except intellectually),
some conception
that may resemble
other's speculations.
Yet I can't visualize
a meaningful afterlife,
though it might be nice
to be a kindly angel
helping those in need,
but there is too much rust
in my troubled days
for me to get wings.
So my only hope
is to finish earthly chores
before departure.

DISCARDED DREAMS
​
Temporal pleasures are fleeting,
yet while they occur
more than compensate
for endemic frustration
of lofty ambitions
fueled by animate desires,
thwarted by reality,
consigning expectations
to the furnace of failure

PERSIST

Between a birth and a death
all our expectations
are subject to winds of change.
The paths we assume
will bring a better life
can only be realized
if we escape disaster.
War, plague, famine, flood,
interject disruptions
of daily continuation.
So only survivors
pick up the pieces
of shattered tranquility,
resume the struggle
to endure coincidence,
fate, destiny, act of ---,
without surrendering
to beckoning despair.