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 Gary Becks poetry has appeared in
dozens of literary
magazines. His recent fiction has been published in
numerous literary magazines. His chapbook 'The
Conquest of Somalia' will be published by Cervena
Barva Press. His plays and translations of Moliere,
Aristophanes, and Sophocles have been produced
Off-Broadway.
Ages Past
Naishapur and Babylon
were once flowering cities
of innumerable splendors
that attracted barbarian hordes
eager to be temporary guests
of civilization’s comforts.
After the visitors rode on,
never looking back at luxury,
the cities never bloomed again
and the traditional conflict
between dishonest townspeople
and destructive marauders,
continued to this very day.
Out Of Thy Dark Hand
L.K., where gone?
That friend I had
I lost to death
who never pausing to explain
moved on.
And the fervor that gave him breath,
empowering the young hunger,
dreaming of a better life,
vanished with a distant traveler
into another land.
Never meeting him again
that flashing smile of exuberant nights
become remote.
Yet sometimes,
catacombs of thought,
sudden collisions with the past,
a stranger met for a moment,
who touched my soul
a distant life ago,
stir the silent tomb
unmarked
on which I sit,
making me dream of some small plot of earth
where lies a friend.
Amaryllis
Voluptuous blossom that could consume
all our lust for beauty with one bloom
that unfolds for a brief sharing,
in natures sexual surrender to man
with exquisite delight, compelling attention,
quickly reaching the delectable climax,
swiftly dwindling to brown, fallen petals,
an ache of remembrance, a gift departed.
Truce in Iraq
The invasion is over.
The last battle has ended
and our victorious forces have prevailed.
The fears of disaster have disappeared
and the clamors of protest are silent.
Those who were expected to perish
celebrated in their foxholes,
empty beercans piled higher
then the heap of the dead.
The shock of combat has faded.
Misgivings have departed faster
than changes in public opinion,
except the unpleasant question:
why did we spend so much,
to kill so many,
with such little concern,
when we’re going to do it again?
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