New poems
by Gary Beck

 

Unbalanced

 

Nature was always a friend

rewarding us

with good hunting,

good gathering,

good crops,

clement weather.

 

Nature was always an enemy

punishing us

with poor hunting,

poor gathering,

poor crops,

inclement weather.

 

Then our species changed

and we began to remove

the force of Nature

as much as possible

from our experience.

 

Yet Nature still has power,

resents our ceaseless assault

on everything that lives,

punishes us with drastic storms,

for our destructive ways.

 

 

 

Insanity Extended

 

Violence spreads across the land

and we accept as normal

outrageous crimes,

rampages, date rape,

cyber bullying, knockout,

twisted acts that did not exist

a generation ago,

yet we passively accept

increasing threats

to public stability

with minimal protest.

 

 

 

Expansion

 

Bridges were built

to cross

what couldn’t be walked across,

a gap in the earth

a body of water,

any impediment

to traffic,

from the paleolithic

log of convenience

to dazzling structures

spanning great distance,

the clever contrivances

of industrious engineers

to hurry us along.

 

 

 

Beyond Reason

 

So many generations

have mourned the past

remembering better days

in imagination,

with much suffering

along the way

of a dominant species

that used great minds

to fly to the moon,

but doesn’t understand

the workings of the mind

and terrible crimes,

pathological evil

is beyond comprehension.

Who can make sense

of a boy killing a girl

because she won’t go on a date?

Who can conceive

that a mother

will torture her child?

Somehow we’ve been conditioned

to accept mass destruction

and with time we treat it

like any dreadful event.

But it is beyond reason

that a boy twisted by early abuse,

bullied by brutes,

unable to communicate

incredible anguish

that drives him to horrible acts,

goes to his school

shoots, stabs his classmates,

destroying lives,

not expecting death

to visit so abruptly,

survivors stunned,

briefly distressed

 

but somehow continue,

as if the unthinkable

never occurred.

 

 

 

Arrivals

 

Winter is over

the spring migration

of well-fed tourists

with digital cameras poised

not to miss anything,

the chirp of a bird

the scent of hyacinth,

not noticed,

only landmarks, selfies,

distract the foreigners

from shopping.

 

 

 

Tendencies

 

First factories went abroad

then jobs followed,

capitalists

only concerned with profit,

luxurious life,

forgot the toilers

who do the labor

that keeps things running.

 

The wealthy are unconcerned

if something breaks,

easily replaced,

just a matter of money,

and reveling in opulence

can not conceive

if they drain the blood

the body will collapse

leaving limited choices,

retreat to protected enclaves

long term continuation questionable,

relocate to another land

that may be hospitable

but retention of wealth

might be at risk,

hope to exist on mega-yachts

stopping at port to port

for fuel, supplies,

intending wealth management

on the internet

as long as they have a connection.

 

It is too much to expect

sufficient common sense,

practical intelligence,

for the rich to know

we are all connected,

some more equal,

but interdependent

for goods and services,

no matter how humble.

 

If the owners of America

hope to dwell in their land,

pass ownership

 

to their children

They should share a portion

with the people,

unlike aristos of France

who begrudged a crust

and lost their heads.

 

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