Darren C. Demaree

Emily as the Cottonwoods

I only search the sky
when it’s on top of me,
but Emily always

has her hands up
in the landscape,
turning it over

like the garden is
everywhere. I can appreciate
her intent is to show

her teeth to the bloom.
I want to be that bold.
I salt the tomatoes

so Emily can eat them
like apples. Love isn’t
the issue. The issue

is that I wait for Emily
like I’m a witness instead
of being the horizon.

Darren C. Demaree is the author of twenty-three poetry collections, most recently So Much More, (Harbor Editions, 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 the Managing Editor of Ovenbird Poetry.  He is currently working in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system.