GARY BECK - POEMS

Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn't earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. 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 and his published books include 32 poetry collections, 14 novels, 3 short story collections, 1 collection of essays and 5 books of plays. Gary lives in New York City.

​Doctor Visit

​The ill line up and wait
hoping for treatment, cure.
Officious clerks ignore you
as you stand on frail legs,
unsure if you might fall
before you’re called.
You’re sent to a waiting room
and wait. And wait.
Then, name mispronounced
you’re taken to an examination room,
where you wait. And wait. And…
A nurse comes in,
takes vitals, says:
“The doctor will be right with you.”                                      
You wait. And wait. And…
It is almost an hour
after your appointment time.
The doctor comes in,
tells you to do things at home,
tells you to come back in three months
and quickly departs
without giving you a chance
to discuss your condition.
You go back to the desk,
wait with others
to make an appointment.

​Moderates

​When it’s not too  hot
and not too cold
urban residents
enjoy themselves more
than in extreme weather,
conditioned to indoors
spending most of their time
with climate controlled tv,
or the internet,
not as hardy
as their forebearers.

​Debate

​Over the years
many have argued
whether or not
there is dignity in labor.
If one toils mightily
yet gets no fame,
fortune, other reward
except subsistence,
some believe
we are just slightly evolved
from the beasts.
If we are part
of the great mass
of undistinguished humanity
living obscurely
by the sweat of effort,
many more fed
it is insufficient
to justify the purpose
of our species’ existence.

 

​Growth Spur

In 1814
we weren’t more advanced
then in 1714.
But in 1914
we were industrialized
and made modern wars
with tanks, airplanes,
powerful  weapons
to kill each other.
By 2014
we progressed enough
to destroy the planet,
leading some to speculate
that by 2114
we could obliterate
the solar system

​Faker Spout

​The President complains
about fake news
as if he invented the concept
used by so many before him
and frightened followers believe him,
as he leads them to confusion
hopefully not persuading them
to drink Kool-Aid.