Three Poems

by Darren C. Demaree

A DAMAGED THINKER #16

Like every man who has seen fire
erupt from a metal casing, I believe
limits are the exotic animals

of this world. We know them
because we mourned their passing
slightly, before we swung, unloved

by the expired limitations, the color
of feather we can now only paint,
like we must create, again, a life

from the intended view of modern
memory, the fire that finds us,
our face, after it takes our legs

that was an animal, too, a live one.

A DAMAGED THINKER #17

Rage to rage, I
age to age, I
move deeply,

quickly, not
quite forever
from stage

to stage, shred-
ding the page
to page of time.

A DAMAGED THINKER #18

I am pedestal(ed),
that does not mean
I am inclined to be

a statue forever.
I got blown up once
forever. Confident

in the danger
of my own thoughts,
I am waiting, here

because the action
here, still comes to me
& I am fucking ready.

—

Darren C. Demaree’s poems have appeared, or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including South Dakota Review, Meridian, The Louisville Review, Grist, and the Colorado Review. He is the author of “As We Refer To Our Bodies” (2013, 8th House), “Temporary Champions” (2014, Main Street Rag), and “Not For Art Nor Prayer” (2015, 8th House). I am the recipient of three Pushcart Prize nominations and a Best of the Net nomination.He is currently living and writing in Columbus, Ohio with my wife and children.

(Audio for these poems can be found here)