Revelations

by Gary Beck

 
When I was young
I was homeless
and learned the bitter lesson
of alienation, deprivation.
I remember winters
when my coat wasn’t heavy enough
to keep out the cold.
But all the time in school
I heard noble words
that everyone believed,
but didn’t apply to me.
Conditions changed for me
so I was never disadvantaged
in the land of the free
that I painfully discovered
was only for some of us.

City Fixture

by Gary Beck 

The homeless sit
on unrelenting streets
cardboard signs
advertising need.                                                           
Passersby seldom notice
the invisible men
hulking on concrete nests.

Fantasia Number 1

by Gary Beck

All the Billionaires
should each give five million dollars
to set up a foundation
that will provide housing,
support services
to homeless families with children,
homeless veterans,
so those who served the nation,
innocent children
will be saved
from needless suffering.