Darren C. Demaree
Emily as an Open Hand
We painted the lilies
in the front yard blue.
We slapped each of them
with cheap oils until
they bowed to our intentions.
It made their roots
worthless, so we brought
them inside. It was all a show.
We don’t even carve initials
into the trees in the back,
but we had to show
all of our neighbors
just how far we were willing
to go to make Ohio
worthy of our rising blood.
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Emily as Strangeness
\
I dated one Emily
& I married another.
I’ve moved
from Canyon
to Olentangy
& there was
a different Emily
in each house.
All those promises
we keep making
must be carried on
by people different
than us now.
I know it’s strained
to write four thousand
poems for the same girl,
but strangeness
is a beast
that never yawns.
I pull on the bright thing
next to me
& it’s always her.
The roaring
cannot wait.
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\
Emily as We Hover to Ache
\
We do not live on paper
as if it is a blank map
waiting to be wounded
by our naming.
We are tourists. That’s true,
but it doesn’t change
how dangerous it is to want
to exist beneath
our understanding.
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Darren C. Demaree is the author of fifteen poetry collections, most recently Burning It Down (8th House Publishing).