Poems
by Gary Beck
Madness Reigns
We send our children to school
never expecting
a troubled youth
will go on a rampage,
open fire,
murder
precious offspring.
We go to a rock concert
never expecting
a troubled man
will find a vantage point,
open fire,
murder
innocent concertgoers.
Throughout our troubled land
we gather in public places
never expecting
a demented individual
will open fire,
murder people
who dared to get together.
Desperation
I saw a news item
about Afghanistan
on tv
showing a poor family
that sold its children
to get something to eat.
I found myself thinking
what I would do
if my family was starving,
but quickly realized
there was a world of difference
between my country,
however declined and divided,
the land of opportunity,
at least for some,
where I could get a service job,
become a delivery boy,
find some way to make a few bucks
Steal? It would have to be for food.
I wouldnt know how to sell anything else.
Sell drugs? Where would I get it?
Sell my body? That made me laugh.
This desiccated old thing?
But thats crazy thinking.
Theres always a food bank.
Afghanistan is different
than the good old U.S.A.
There really are families
without resources, starving,
who decided, however callous
it might seem to others,
to sell their children
so they could eat.
No matter how hard I tried
I couldnt picture their way of life
well enough to conclude
if what they did was right or wrong.
I can only believe
no matter what happened
Id never sell my children.
Voting Rites
Election day, U.S.A.,
and almost no protests,
rioting, violence,
making some of us remember
were not Russia or China
and we still have
some democracy
and we can cast our ballots
for the candidate of choice,
if there is a choice
to maintain the fabric
of a free society.
Encroachment
When most wars start
aggressors dont expect
a disastrous end.
Persia, Athens, Rome,
Germany, Japan,
sent destruction
beyond their borders,
then suffered
total defeat,
mass casualties
less important
than loss of power
for eager warmongers
whose dreams of conquest
were harshly shattered.
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