Surface Properties

By Joanne Merriam

When clouds accumulate, the dome turns gray.

Never enough water, though. Or sound. Or fun.

An old flag and some yellow rocks your bouquet.

Our far sides are so cratered anyway

each impact only obliterates an old one.

When clouds accumulate, the dome turns gray.

You point to our radioactive elements, the way

we're always falling toward each other and the sun.

A flag and those yellow rocks your only bouquet.

Asymmetric hemispheres. That's us, you say.

I roll a layer of powder on my face. We're never done.

The clouds accumulating and dome turning gray

make the native plants seem picturesque looking for prey

with their cherry-coloured tendrils, their paralyzing blossoms, the way

they run past your stupid flag and yellow rocks. Your dismay

over the fine dust covering your breath mask that eats away

at the dome. I wish we'd never come here. You hide your gun.

An old flag and some yellow rocks your bouquet.

When clouds accumulate, the dome turns gray.


Joanne Merriam is a Canadian writer living in Murfreesboro, TN, home of the world's largest red cedar bucket. Her science fiction has appeared in On Spec and formerly in Strange Horizons. Her poetry collection The Glaze From Breaking (Stride) will be released in the UK in March 2005. See more of her work on her website: www.joannemerriam.com.