ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Doreski lives in Peterborough, New Hampshire. He has taught at several colleges and universities. His most recent book of poetry is Dogs Don't Care (2022). He has published three critical studies, including Robert Lowell’s Shifting Colors. His essays, poetry, fiction, and reviews have appeared in various journals.

Making Manly

Your latest husband’s so pale

and timid he’s translucent.

You leave him with me to thicken

like a steer. I pour good bourbon

down his gullet and subject him

to a set of tennis and a swim

in a leech-infested pond 

as brazen couples sprawl nude,

sunning themselves on hot days

while most people hide indoors.

Your husband barely responds

to these stimuli. I brace him

with olives, prunes, and almonds.

I read him excerpts from Balzac,

Henry Miller, Marquis de Sade.

He weeps silently, soaking

the red bandanna I gave him

so he could look more manly.

When I return him, he shudders

like an engine about to stall.

Sorry I failed. You still can read

by the light shining through him.

Pretend it’s a heavenly moment

and try to bask in his glow.