STEM As Part of A Flower
Night sky of wonder before learning
physical laws governing its existence
after being encouraged to wish upon a star
as an impressionable child. Newton’s Law
diminishing the pull of heavens
but introducing us to the force of attraction.
First generation college students exposed
to Keats’ blushful Hippocrene in a dying
manufacturing town, blue-collar parents
wondering how this helps their kids thrive
in the Anthropocene. The learned professions
striving for precision down to the subatomic world.
Every living thing taking a turn pithed on a table,
an autopsy only able to answer cause of death.
For now, a local meadow remains undeveloped,
no generals wargaming its strategic importance.
A colony of honeybees pollinating goldenrod,
lavender and bee balm, their stingers sheathed,
a sudden memory of when you first tasted
honey, intuitively grasping negative capability,
the repeated “mmm” with every bite.
About the Author: Joseph Geskey lives outside Columbus, Ohio. Broken Tribe Press will publish his second book of poetry, Vigil, in 2026. Alms for the Ravens appeared in 2024. Individual poems have appeared in Tar River Poetry, Verse Daily, Poetry East, Cloudbank, Roanoke Review, and many others. Please visit josephgeskey.com for further information.
Image Credit: Image originally from Prof. Dr. Thomé’s Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, in Wort und Bild, für Schule und Haus. Public domain image courtesy of The Biodiversity Heritage Library.
As It Ought To Be 