High Abuse

By Gary Beck 

I once dreamed of a land

where all were free

with equal opportunity.

Grade school cured me of that.

As I grew up

prejudice, discrimination,

hatred, violence

pervaded my country,

poisoning the home of democracy.

It took a while for me to learn

our rulers weren’t elected officials,

but obscure oligarchs

who bought legislators

for their own needs,

rather then the nation.

And when amoral corporations

abandoned America

for higher profit abroad,

removing a blue collar class

that resisted the bosses,

leaving a rust belt

to defile the landscape.

And year after year

more and more of our rights

were taken away

until our birthright is tarnished
by ruthless exploiters

of a once hopeful people.

Gary Beck has spent his adult life as a theater director. He has 14 published chapbooks. His poetry collections include Days of Destruction (Skive Press), Expectations (Rogue Scholars Press), Dawn in Cities, Assault on Nature, Songs of a Clerk, Civilized Ways, Displays, Perceptions, Fault Lines, Tremors, Perturbations, Rude Awakenings, The Remission of Order and Contusions (Winter Goose Publishing). Conditioned Response (Nazar Look), Virtual Living (Thurston Howl Publications), Blossoms of Decay,Expectations, Blunt Force and Transitions (Wordcatcher Publishing). His  novels include Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing), Call to Valor and Crumbling Ramparts(Gnome on Pig Productions), Sudden Conflicts (Lillicat Publishers). Acts of Defiance  and Flare Up Wordcatcher Publishing). His short story collections include A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications), Now I Accuse and other stories (Winter Goose Publishing) and Dogs Don’t Send Flowers and other stories (Wordcatcher Publishing). The Republic of Dreams and other essays (Gnome on Pig Productions). Feast or Famine and other one act-plays will be published by Wordcatcher Publishing. 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 magazines. He lives in New York City.