By Gary Beck
PROMPT — Who am I today?
The alarm clock didn’t go off,
so I overslept.
Anne didn’t get up,
so I missed breakfast.
The garage door got stuck again,
then the car wouldn’t start.
I cursed it, but that didn’t help.
I rushed to Grove Street
and just missed the commuter bus.
Dave from Agriculture stopped for me,
otherwise I would have missed half a day.
He dropped me off at Commerce,
I rushed in ready to kill
for a cup of coffee,
then Stanly, the snotty supervisor,
told me Trump shut down the government,
so we’ve all been furloughed.
Now what do I do
without a salary?
Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn't earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and his published books include 26 poetry collections, 10 novels, 3 short story collections, 1 collection of essays and 1 collection of one-act plays.