Uncivilized II
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
By Gary Beck
PROMPT—Peace ...
After high school graduation,
the excitement of prom night
we sent them to a foreign land
where they toughened up fast, or died.
The Taliban didn’t have ATMs,
the family car Saturday night
to go to a local make out spot,
but they had plenty of IEDs
generously shared with our young troops.
When our troops finally departed
a fierce, unforgiving country
that ambushed the minds and bodies
of our inexperienced soldiers
who learned the hard way to survive
a completely alien land.
When they returned to the U.S.A.
more foreign than Afghanistan
with no practical applications
for painfully learned killing skills,
too many found out the hard way
they no longer had a place
in our conflicted society.
They couldn’t seem to hold a job,
couldn’t get along with others,
felt completely isolated
from the people they tried to know.
They couldn’t pay rent, lost their apartments,
ended up on the streets
like other veterans exiled
from the lives they used to know.
One of them sits on a piece of cardboard
on a busy corner
with a hand written sign that says:
‘I’m a veteran and need help’.
People walk by and ignore him,
another abandoned castaway
marooned on a concrete island
where no one says thank you
for your service.
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, ditch digger and salvage diver. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction, essays and plays have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines. His traditionally published books include 46 poetry collections, 18 novels, 4 short story collections, 2 collections of essays, 8 books of plays and 16 Poetry Chapbooks. Gary lives in New York City.
