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.
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
