Gary Beck, 7/2/2018

Current Occupation: I am currently a writer
Former Occupation: I was formerly a director/playwrite.
Contact Information: Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director, and as an art dealer when he couldn’t make a living in theater. He has 13 published chapbooks and 1 accepted for publication. His poetry collections include: Days of Destruction (Skive Press), Expectations (Rogue Scholars Press). Dawn in Cities, Assault on Nature, Songs of a Clerk, Civilized Ways, Displays, Perceptions, Fault Lines, Tremors, Perturbations and Rude Awakenings (Winter Goose Publishing) The Remission of Order will be published by Winter Goose Publishing. Conditioned Response (Nazar Look). Resonance (Dreaming Big Publications). Virtual Living (Thurston Howl Publications). Blossoms of Decay and Expectations (Wordcatcher Publishing). Blunt Force will be published by Wordcatcher Publishing. His novels include: Extreme Change (Cogwheel Press), Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing), Call to Valor and Crumbling Ramparts (Gnome on Pigs Productions). As part of the continuing series, ‘Stand to Arms Marines’, Gnome on Pigs Productions will publish the third book in the series, Raise High the Walls. Sudden Conflicts (Lillicat Publishers). Acts of Defiance will be published by Wordcatcher Publishing. His short story collections include, A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications) and. Now I Accuse and other stories (Winter Goose Publishing). Dogs Don’t Send Flowers and other stories will be published by Wordcatcher Publishing. 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. He currently lives in New York City.

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Incendiary Moments

Fire in the city
a tall office building
too high for ladders.
Smoke pours out,
people begin to flee.
Most don’t know
about the blaze.
Power fails,
elevators stop,
some are trapped
screaming in the dark.
Firefighters arrive
burdened with gear,
sweat pouring off them.
Rescue efforts begin,
the long climb
to the top floor,
evacuation
of the injured,
panic a short breath away.
Only the steadiness
of the firefighters
prevents mad stampede.

Careful search of premises,
careful check for hazards,
then the battle of the fire,
smoke impeding the fight.
PCBs, other harmful chemicals
seep their way
through respirators,
constricting breathing.
Strong bodies lug equipment
up 40 flights of stairs,
axes chop, hoses spray,
endless hours without relief.
Ambulances remove the injured.
Finally, hours later,
all residents accounted for,
the blaze is under control.
Firefighters make sure
the flames are out,
hot embers not a threat

to larger conflagration.
Engines return to the station,
the men exhausted,
and hope it’ll be a while
before the next emergency call.