Author: Gary Beck Source: https://www.polseguera.com/writers/writing-740_discoveries.html Discoveries Gary Beck/Discoveries   Strange Surroundings I have always lived in alien enclaves. never taking root no matter how long I stayed in one place long enough to belong, my distance from others engraved in my soul, that for some reason, cause, curse, inheritance, coincidental as existence I am as temporary as a gust of wind, though I move slowly enough that I don't blow away, in an instant.   I began like so many others without knowledge, experience, just need urgent appetite to be fed, held, soothed in the strange new world, having been abruptly removed from conception chamber where all needs were gratified without thought, question, everything flowed as I wanted, warm, comfortable, secure.   Then disruption. Demands to vacate the premises I resisted with all my might, not wanting to leave home. Intrusive hands forced me out, yanked me into the cold, wrapped me in garments, but it wasn't the same, put me on someone's warmth but it wasn't the same, There was nothing else and for the moment my ordeal was over. I slept.   For many years I worked and gave of my soul to homeless families with children, most of them surgically removed from the rest of society, placed in isolated hotels in unwelcoming neighborhoods, identities horribly subtracted by callous government agencies, abandoned by those who should help who escape responsibility because the homeless are transformed into non-citizens, arbitrarily deprived of their rights, more vulnerable then most of us, and the children feel the disconnect between them and humanity.     After Decline Life has become so complex in the good old U.S.A. that the average citizen can no longer understand the issues that divide us. Just as we get a handle on the biggest current problems, Covid-19, immigration, shutdown of the government, disasters suddenly happen, wild fires, floods, hurricanes, further eroding the fabric of a struggling society slowly being overwhelmed by the conflicting demands to maintain our fraying country.     Whose Country is it? I Is America crazier than in the past? Was anything crazier than the Civil War? Americans killing Americans for who would rule the country, Northern Industrial Magnates or Southern Agricultural barons?   And many of the men were told they were fighting about slavery, even though it affected few of them. Were we more moral then? Dumber? Definitely Not! More gullible? Maybe. Information was different then It moved slowly from points of origin, without video, audio, just the printed word, black and white illustrations.   II Not many protested the Spanish-American War when we stole a senor empire from an attenuated European power and moved onto the world stage with the 'Great White Fleet' sailing the seven seas, announcing to the old empires a new player in the game, not reluctant to project power, snatch Hawaii, then Guam declaring to Pacific nations, 'we're here to stay.'   III Teddy mediated the Russo-Japanese War that furthered Russian resentment of us and birthed Japanese hatred when we didn't give them enough for defeating the moldy Russian bear. But our leaders learned enough to build a bigger role in international affairs, even though we didn't always know what we were doing and were often outsmarted by the European old dogs.   IV So World War I went on and on and we finally intervened, turned the tide against weary Germany, then were completely outmaneuvered after the armistice was declared by the cunning French, the ruthless British and got little from the settlement, but started the League of Nations, an impotent body that couldn't compel anyone from rivaling anyone else, couldn't alleviate suffering, couldn't prevent war, poverty, hunger, disease, the ills that beset the world.   V The Great Depression struck most of us, except those wealthy enough to survive all disasters and they profited mightily, feasting in splendor while millions dined at soup kitchens. Yet unbeknownst to the public a mighty empire was stirring, getting richer, more powerful, ready to replace tired empires once the aggressors were totally defeated and we inherited the Earth.     Innovation We have been trained to accept the marvels of technology, camping out in rain or snow for the latest IPhone, IPad, following social media that subtlety or brazenly assaults the minds of our youngsters, mostly hidden from adults, manipulated by tv, absorbed by FOX News, CNN, too busy to monitor kids separated from parents, another alienated group further shattering the family, the fundamental unit that maintains civilization, arbitrarily altered for the comfort and convenience of the exploitative 1%.   Discoveries is an unpublished poetry collection that reveals some of the problems that beset us in this difficult life.