Author: Gary Beck
Source: https://www.polseguera.com/writers/writing-421_mortal-coil.html


Mortal Coil


Mortal Coil is an unpublished poetry collection that grapples with the frailty of this conflicted life.

 

Traveler's Cares

Perils of the deep

concern fewer and fewer

voyagers,

since air travel

obsoleted ships.

We go from place to place

faster, safer

then ever before,

and usually suppress

apprehension, fears,

until something reminds us

of the perils of the sky.

 

 

Long Pent

Confined to my cell

in the dark prison

of my heart,

I endured for lifetimes,

each day an anguish

unrelieved by hope

early extinguished

by daily beatings.

 

I could not escape

relentless assault

that banished my soul,

devoured my dreams.

 

Then my daughter was born.

In the bright discovery

of an unblemished life

I was regenerated,

rejoined humanity

in a flood of feelings

that melted the bars

that kept me in isolation.

 

Love entered my heart,

demanding an end

to bitter exile.

 

 

Crimes Against Humanity

The cry of pain

we do not hear

echoes louder

in a child's mind

long after

physical affliction

has passed.

The scars

real and remembered

prevent forgetting

of the harsh hands

quick to abuse,

slow to protect,

that shattered forever

the safety of childhood.

 

 

Service Rewarded

A veteran

of America's wars

falls on hard times,

overstressed

from what he has seen,

has done.

He cannot keep a job,

becomes homeless.

When it gets too cold

he goes to a shelter.

During the night

men rob him.

He fights back,

is stabbed, killed,

by the enemy at home.

 

 

Another Season

The first day of fall

unnoticed by most

in New York City,

where it's just as warm

as the last day of summer.

 

The usual madness reigns.

 

Today was leave your car at home day,

in order to help the environment,

yet traffic is heavier then ever.

 

The UN General Assembly

started its annual meeting today,

followed by hundreds of dignitaries

indulging in extravagances

at the expense of the U.S.A.,

while war, crime, poverty, disease

continue to plague the world

on the first day of fall.