Three Poems

by DARREN C. DEMAREE

blue and blue and blue #76

the city is
behind me

blue and blue and blue #77

the transit is
behind me;
i am delivered

& i cannot
stroke the torrent
of the tide

without losing
both of my hands
& maybe

i could do
better without
these hands

& maybe,
the twin cities
of my world

would find
a natural rhythm
that way

blue and blue and blue #78

i knew all of the names
that belonged to me
until i realized i belonged

to the ocean, that my body
which does such a poor job
holding my soul upright,

was meant to relent
amidst the true beastings
that belong here, now

& all of those names
i earned in pursuit of own-
ing better names, they

were sand to begin with

---

 

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.