Emily as Lamp-Lit
We are two charged forces
becoming ghosts
& luxury, freedom
& the witness of freedom.
The terrible night is ours
& it’s not so terrible.
Give me a loose connection
to the world
& give me Emily. Perfect.
Emily as a Museum
I want to have sex
with Emily
every damn day
of this life,
but she has gathered
all of the Emily
& kept it for herself
& once a week
the doors open
for the general public
& I’m very lucky
to be there
when they do.
Too much of this
world is kept
in beautiful buildings
named after white
women that come
from money.
I love this one,
but it needs
to be said.
She is the art
& the gift shop
& the owner
& the tax write-off
& the city is better
because of her
& apparently, I work
in tourism
& every time
I’m there I see her
& then I dream of her.
Emily as Yep
A lithe body
means heat
& this world
can be so cold
& I’m not tired
of explaining
her strange animal
as a ricochet
towards existence
because I know
only one truth
& the rest
of everything
is just profanity
& death.
Darren C. Demaree grew up in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He is a graduate of the College of Wooster, Miami University, and Kent State University. He is the author of twenty-three poetry collections, most recently “So Much More”, (Small Harbor Publishing, November 2024). He is the recipient of a Greater Columbus Arts Council Grant, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal. He is the Editor-in-chief of the Best of the Net Anthology and Managing Editor of Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently working in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system, and living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.
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