BIO
Darren C. Demaree is the author of five poetry collections, most recently “The Nineteen Steps Between Us” (2016, After the Pause Press).  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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EMILY AS THE SPIRIT SCALES THE WALL
 
If we cannot share
a consciousness
& the warped
 
cosmology
of our hearts
can shift unsubtly,
 
then we must trust
that the walls we choose
will keep us together.

EMILY AS MAYBE THE BIRTH
 
My girl
was written
in defiance
 
of gravity
& yet she
descended
 
to me
in an anxious crawl
that is the subject
 
of all of the paintings
I’ve burned
in the garage
 
beyond
my father’s office
in Mount Vernon.
 
 
 
 

 EMILY AS A SUMMER THOUGHT
 
Blink, blink
& the warmth
of Emily
 
becomes
a season Ohio
must adjust
 
to welcome.
She is the reason
we had to
 
make all
of our lakes.
Ten billion
 
gallons of water
for one woman?
Yes, for Emily.