My pens are children of hunger
bleeding words.
They sit in pleading rows
eager to be expended.
But I, the cruel torturer of silence
do not write,
and make them suffer.
Gary Beck’s poetry has appeared in dozens of literary magazines. His chapbook, “Remembrance” was published by Origami Press, June 2008. “The Conquest of Somalia” will be published by Cervena Barva Press. His recent fiction has been published in numerous literary magazines. His plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes, and Sophocles have been produced off-Broadway.
© 2007, Gary Beck
Halfway Down the Stairs 