Tempt Me Not
Gary
Beck is a New Yorker who has spent most of his adult life as a theater
director and occasional art dealer. In addition he has found time to
ply the trades of tennis pro, ditch digger, and salvage diver. His
original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes, and Sophocles
have been produced Off Broadway. Gary has had several chapbooks
published and his individual poems have appeared in hundreds of
literary magazines. This poem is from his unpublished collection Songs of a Clerk, which expresses the frustration of a young man trapped in a menial clerical job while dreaming of a meaningful life.
Tempt Me Not
By Gary Beck
Daylight seen in the distance
through office windows
filtering hope.
Clacking through the thin wood door
machine reminders of obligation:
work, earn money, dress well,
use more credit cards.
Oh dreary tempter
who no longer offers flesh or glory,
you are paunched, satan,
from sitting behind your new computer.
Tempt Me Not
By Gary Beck
Daylight seen in the distance
through office windows
filtering hope.
Clacking through the thin wood door
machine reminders of obligation:
work, earn money, dress well,
use more credit cards.
Oh dreary tempter
who no longer offers flesh or glory,
you are paunched, satan,
from sitting behind your new computer.
Posted by Annmarie at 12/15/2009 12:42 AM 
Categories: today's words
Tags: pressure Gary Beck consumption job work
Categories: today's words
Tags: pressure Gary Beck consumption job work
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