Poems from Disruptions
by Gary Beck

 

 

Treatment Center

 

I sit in hospital waiting room.

No one looks happy.

Then I remember

this is a senior facility,

not an emergency room,

which explains

why they look resigned

rather then terrified.

These are not the wealthy

so the services they expect

are minimal,

merely sufficient

to delay conclusion

until the last visit.

 

 

 

 

City View

 

Winter in the city

a different picture

without greenery.

Everything is greyer.

After a while

even people are greyer.

Cold winds blow.

Heavy clothes are worn.

The pace is more urgent.

Then it snows.

For a short while

an ermine coat covers

a suddenly elegant cityscape.

But all too quickly

urban soot, emissions

darken the snow,

filthying the streets

no longer lovely

to look at.

 

 

 

 

The Shattered Calm

 

A peaceful day in New York City,

bastion of safety in the troubled world.

Tourists explore enticing shops.

Bicyclists take advantage

Of a warm day for a ride.

Pedestrians go for a stroll

delighted to be outside

before the advent of winter.

Suddenly a truck

careens down the street

running down people.

Screams of pain resound,

cries of the terrified

not drowned out

by the roaring engine,

more and more struck

until the truck crashes.

The driver leaps out,

yells ‘Allah akbar’,

is shot down

by responding police,

but not until too many

are killed or wounded

in what politicians call

‘a cowardly attack’,

refusing to acknowledge

the West is engaged

in a clash of civilizations.

 

 

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