Geologic Doom

By William DoreskiPeterborough, New Hampshire Ashen silence molds itselfinto the shape of geese driftingon a gray lake. The angleof their wake is acute enoughto suggest they’ll get somewhere, despite their casual poise.Soon they disappear in a mistso fine we can hardly feel itsoak through and reveal our bones.The far shore has faded away. Maybe the planet has erodedso its rough edge approaches uswith threats we can’t understand.Maybe the lake is pouring intothe vacuum of absolute space. You tire of these uncertaintiesand claim we live by maps and chartsthat prove the geologic doomI fear can’t possibly happen.Geese can happen. Loons and…

Floral Derision

By William DoreskiPeterborough New Hampshire Fragrant lilies critique the pond.Subtleties of their punctuationleave us gasping for response. The water is a dirty pane of glass.Looking at rather than through itreveals only dinge and drab. No wonder aquatic disdainextends to dry land where voicessail across wooded places and boomerang back to intellectsthat lack both form and content.The lilies remain so aloof, although rooted in the shallows,that no one considers plucking themto place in ordinary vases in rooms where reckless children roam.The August days simper and preen.The pond water smell of decay although fish and amphibians thrivedespite the threats of climate change.The…