The demented trudge the streets,
some salvaging cans, bottles,
laboring for normality,
entrepreneurial
in the madness of city life.
Others rave to themselves,
or passing strangers,
frightening them
with mumbling incantations
from men possessed by demons,
abandoned by their meds.
Most homeless are inconspicuous
hoping to survive
a hostile environment.
unconcerned with the balance
between euro and dollar
allowing hordes of foreigners
avid for tourist experience
to aim intrusive cameras
at degraded spectacles.
Housing Crisis
I got off the plane,
my wife was waiting,
crying, glad to see me,
told me through tears
the bank foreclosed our house
while I was in Afghanistan
bringing democracy to tribesmen
who lost their homes in battle,
while I lost mine
serving my country.
Approaching Storm
Once the cry,
'Rome has fallen',
echoed in Europe,
Africa, Asia,
no one mourned,
save a few Romans,
as civilization
crumbled away,
leaving darkness
for those dependent
on the empire.
When America falls,
China will not assume
the burden of policeman
to unruly nations
that value sovereignty
before humanity,
fracturing
the hope of peace.
Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director. He has seven published chapbooks. 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.
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