Author: Gary Beck
Source: https://www.polseguera.com/writers/writing-451_too-harsh-for-pastels.html


Too Harsh For Pastels


Too Harsh For Pastels is an unpublished poetry collection that is concerned with the suffering and growing despair in our troubled society.

Diversion III

The captain reports

fuel tanks are full,

water tank topped off,

preparations made

for a day on the boat.

The chef reports

fresh caviar, lobsters,

a case of Dom Perignon.

My guests will be happy.

The Harbor Master reports

they've moved the smaller boats

to the other side of the marina,

so their noisy parties

won't disturb us.

As long as I don't look

at the shabby houses on the shore,

nothing will distract us

from another pleasant evening

on my mega-yacht,

"The Profit Margin".

 

Degrees

Conflicts arise

domestic and foreign

some husband and wife,

others clashing armies.

In a violent world

only degrees of difference

separate many of us

from primitive reactions,

sophisticated destruction.

 

Disenchantment

The people of my land

are betrayed each day

by diligent servants

of the lords of profit

who do not care

if a child hungers

in the land of the free,

a veteran is abandoned

in the home of the brave,

an able-bodied worker

is callously discarded

in the land of opportunity,

regulated by the few

at the expense of the many,

until belief dwindles

in the promise of America.

 

Odd Species

Thunder and lightning

terrified all creatures

who quickly forgot,

except man

the cunning inventor

couldn't accept

abnormal occurrences,

instead creating

animist systems

to explain

the lack of control

of the forces of nature.

 

Progression

The invention of agriculture,

another revolution

in the ascent of mankind,

changed the nature of existence,

hunting, gathering,

slowly replaced

by primitive farming,

setting the roles

of male/female

on an evolutionary path,

culminating

in the confusing present

where women are hunters,

and men resent gathering,

and are searching

for a new identity.