EMILY AS A ROUTINE
Once I understood
that I could never be
whole without Emily,
the existence of fire
meant almost nothing
to me. I live in fire.
I live with fire. I am
warm all of the time
in the presence of her.
My flesh has changed
with her flesh. I have lost
ownership of my own
layering. I pile to pile
these poems as a reminder
meant for the rest of you.
EMILY AS WHAT WE DO WITH ROSES
We tried to tie
the rose blooms
to the lattice
in the back yard
& all we did
was kill the bush
that held them.
I write these poems
just to find out
if the same thing
might be happening
to me, to Emily.
Darren C. Demaree is the author of six poetry collections, most recently “Many Full Hands Applauding Inelegantly” (2016, 8th House Publishing). He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology and Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.
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