Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director. His novel ‘Acts of Defiance’ is being published by Trestle Press and ‘Extreme Change’ is being published by Cogwheel Press. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry has appeared in hundreds of literary magazines. He currently lives in New York City.
Récherché le Chose Perdue
A coy old woman
adrift in her 1920’s
sack dress, flaunting beads,
bangles, bracelets,
vestiges of the past,
a glamorous female turkey
gobbling away the years,
haunting the jeering streets
searching for a cultural event
that reminds her of her youth
Shock Treatment
Old poems of love
make us dream
sweet moods,
noble thoughts,
but visions of torment
stir our fears,
stab our hearts
with lances of pain
that penetrate,
break off, fester,
leaving us deprived,
spiritually naked.
Urban Sorrow
The light of day wearily subsides
fatigued by man’s abuses.
Intruding beams from street lamps
sing illusion songs of safety.
The gleams of light from homes, offices, stores,
pretend they are guardians of the night,
protecting frightened city wayfarers
desperate for destinations
who only recognize peril
when trapped in ambush.
in parentheses 
enter the discussion: