The Ofi Press Magazine

  Sacrifice

By Gary Beck, USA (Published in Issue 2)

 Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn't earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. His chapbook 'Remembrance' was published by Origami Condom Press, 'The Conquest of Somalia' was published by Cervena Barva Press, 'The Dance of Hate' was published by Calliope Nerve Media and 'Material Questions' was published by Silkworms Ink, 'Dispossessed' was published by Medulla Press and 'Mutilated Girls' is being published by Heavy Hands Ink. A collection of his poetry 'Days of Destruction' was published in by Skive Press. Another collection 'Expectations' was published by Rogue Scholars press. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway and toured colleges and outdoor performance venues. His poetry has appeared in hundreds of literary magazines. He currently lives in New York City.

I know the children of man,

blind-spilled on the earth

are born to waste,

devoured in crueler seas

by schools of predators,

feeding the bellies of Moloch heirs,

allocated to destruction

in the unprotected birthplace

of pitiless selection,

color, creed, credit card.

 Endurance

O dreamers lost,

adrift in twentieth century madness,

living the myth of city days,

but seeking forgotten truths.

Timeless hungers found in books,

often betray our duller selves.

Exiled nine to five,

weak in loss prevention,

five stolen days each week,

we wake at morning

fearing joblessness and failure,

dreary refugees, grey and crazed,

awaiting the weekend.

Trapped

The sad clerk sings

of antiseptic employment,

trapped by filing cabinets.

Hope dwindles to adding machines,

as surrounding office walls conspire

to smash the dream of flight.

Defeat

The clerk of dreary days

eats his dollar lunch,

ringed by grey faces and tan raincoats.

His freedom hour quickly passes.

It rains. He has no where to go.

Lingering over coffee poisons dreams.

The sad faces frighten him.

He rushes outside

and woos the bored streets.

He hungers the scurrying faces

staring the sidewalks.

A beautiful woman looks at him.

He stares her full of alpine jaunts.

She only sees his hunger

and looks away.

Lost again, he returns to work.

Gary Beck's poems come from Songs of a Clerk, an unpublished collection of poetry, expresses the frustration of a young man trapped in a menial clerks job, while dreaming of a meaningful life.

Poems from 'Songs of a Clerk' have appeared in: Istanbul Literary Review, Agency Magazine, Fiction Press and many many more...