We bring you new work from Gary Back, poems from (as of yet unpublished) collection Temporal Dreams. More of his work can be found here (April, 2017).
Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director, and as an art dealer when he couldn’t make a living in theater. He has 11 published chapbooks and 2 more accepted for publication. 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 (Winter Goose Publishing). Perturbations, Rude Awakenings and The Remission of Order will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. Conditioned Response (Nazar Look). Resonance (Dreaming Big Publications). Virtual Living (Thurston Howl Publications). Blossoms of Decay, Blunt Force and Expectations will be published by Wordcatcher Publishing. His novels include: Extreme Change (Cogwheel Press), Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing), Call to Valor (Gnome on Pigs Productions) and Sudden Conflicts (Lillicat Publishers). State of Rage will be published by Rainy Day Reads Publishing , Crumbling Ramparts by Gnome on Pigs Productions and Flare Up by Michael Terrence Publishing (MTP. His short story collection, A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications) and Now I Accuse and other stories will be published by Winter Goose 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 literary magazines. He currently lives in New York City.
Vested Interests
Insubstantial wisps of hope possess us despite reason, which should make clear the wealthy and powerful do not care what befalls the nation as long as they have their comforts.
Power Corrupts
The affairs of state, the needs of the people are cruelly dismissed by the manipulative few indifferent to the damage they wreak on the nation, uncaring for the harm to needy citizens. Selfishly absorbed in their own cravings the wealthy will destroy the system rather than tolerate democracy.
Judgments
To all of us who have desired what we cannot have, did not get, discarded clumsily from attainments, dividing us harshly into the few who get what they want, the many turned away without achievements. Those who accept their lot find a modicum of satisfaction. Those who resent their fate fall into crime, dysfunction, madness, outcasts of civilization denied participation by the prosperous.
Mansions in the Sky
If I win the lottery I'll buy a big mansion with a giant movie screen and a popcorn machine, a bowling alley and lots of other things that I dream of having, and I know the numbers I dreamed last night are definitely a winner.
Deceivers
I once met a man who claimed he spent his life searching for eternal truth and he spoke volubly of the joy of seeking, but when I questioned him he droned generalities not much different from superficial philosophers, and many years later when I remembered him for a brief moment, he was still a fool.
