If you I touch,
not just your body,
although it pleasures me,
but some mysterious part
of kind hands, comfort,
that does not crumble
at my impatient touch,
how far I travel
on your highways
mutilated stranger,
distant as stars.
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.
© 2008, Gary Beck
Halfway Down the Stairs 