a thousand words
STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK
APPREHENSION YOU TAKE SPECIFIC NOTICE of a policeman when one is in your field of vision, or at least I do, and I don’t think I’m much different than you. That’s by design, so seeing the cop wasn’t unusual in itself. I drove along the strip center parking lot looking for an open space near the drug store, and I saw the policeman walk up the steps to the sidewalk in front of the shops. I figured he was going to get something at one of them: a cup of coffee, a slice of pizza, a prescription. I like it when I see cops as people rather than cops as cops. That gives me a sound feeling. It’s good for everybody. I found a spot across from the pharmacy and got out of the car. I looked both ways and then up to the sidewalk and front door, and there was the policeman. He had just gotten a man’s attention and was asking him a question. It’s branded in my mind. The policeman’s navy blue slacks, shirt, and hat, with touches of yellow. The man wearing all black. Tight pants, bulky leatherlike jacket, glints of C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 6
Robert Beck’s focus is on our here and now. A leading voice in the art community, his paintings have been featured in more than seventy juried and thirty solo gallery shows, and three solo museum exhibitions. His writing in ICON has been a reader favorite for seventeen years. ICON |
A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 | I C O N D V. C O M
5
