GARY BECK

SURFS UP

Chet and I watch the old guy
carry his longboard into the water.
He takes a long time to paddle out,
then waits and waits but never rides.
We don’t get much of a ride
on the tiny waves,
but its better than nothing
and we feel like surfers.

Chet thinks the old guy is a real surfer
and he doesn’t bother with the dinky waves.
We talk about him a lot.
One morning we looked around
and he wasn’t there.
All we saw was a fin
slowly moving away.

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 42 poetry collections, 17 novels, 4 short story collections, 2 collection of essays and 8 books of plays. Gary lives in New York City.