Emily as Ten Billion People

The second fawn felt love

before it knew it would have

to consume the world

to stay part of the world.

The second fawn found Emily

& thought what she held out

in her cupped hands might be

space or time or a safe river,

but it was one of those bruised

apples we give away the moment

before the spoil. I wish I was

the second fawn. I eat blue.

Emily as Landing Cliffs

Each morning, a rapid

kisses our shoulders

& we must decide again

to be rooted, to flow 

just enough to be whole

& with each other in some

real way that gives the epic

a shot at stepping forth

into our hearts where we

can make all water a near

& distant world we choose

after we kiss each other.

Emily as Colors in Space

What father?

What son?

The symptoms 

are the same,

Emily says.

Can you breathe

& still love me?

Everything else

is just cancer

& some pursuit.

What father?

What son?

Darren C. Demaree’s poems have appeared or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including Hotel Amerika, Diode, North American Review, New Letters, Diagram, and the Colorado Review. He is the author of twenty-five poetry collections, most recently Got There: Poems on Vanishing (April 2026, April Gloaming Publishing). He’s currently working in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system.