Ripening

Before reason began

to change my tortured life

I succumbed to passions

that drove me to despair.

Fear, lust, anger, envy,

poisons that possessed me,

smashing my destiny

to shards of sorrow.

I barely escaped

an untimely end

through blind coincidence,

threads of providence

salvaging my future,

allowing opportunity

to  redeem tomorrows.

The Quest for Equity

A mortgage is a contract

between buyer and lender

letting you possess your house

with monthly payments

for twenty or thirty years

until the borrowed amount

as well as the interest

is completely repaid,

Then you own your house.

This allows citizens

as long as they have credit

to buy what they can't afford

and live a better life.

As in all business deals

some flourish, some go broke

in search of the promised dream.

When a few lose their homes

there is little sympathy,

except from friends and family.

No one else seems to care.

When thousands lose their homes

and the credit market collapses

the lords of commerce grow rich

at the expense of the people,

so our feeble congress

gives taxpayers the bill,

while C.E.O's bail out

in golden parachutes.

American Retreat

Violence sweeps the globe

evoking sympathy

in concerned citizens,

but little response

from the overwhelmed.

Iraq, Afghanistan,

cancel the pleas

of Congo, Haiti,

who invoke the help

once shared with the world,

but are facily ignored

by a declining nation.

Declining Days

As the sun begins to set

on another fading empire

that grew with war and theft,

brutally crushing resistance

while calling for democracy,

the world is without pity

for the sufferings to come

in the good old U.S.A.

Despite all our denials

of territorial intent

we held sway over the earth,

proclaiming benevolence

as we consumed the fruits

of other people's labor,

oblivious to our decay.

Rome, Holy Roman Empire,

British Empire, all controlled

the destiny of  nations,

now relics of history

awaiting our presence,

as we rush to join them.

Gary Beck