Poem for Katie, Queen of Ohio #65
Darren C. Demaree
I have been removing
all of the paper
from all of the lights
& I have done so
with no ocean
to second my actions.
I’ve removed
the edges for you.
Now, there is heat
& light
& those people
that hide from it.
Poem for Katie, Queen of Ohio #66
Darren C. Demaree
It’s not a runway.
It’s a dry creek bed.
You can land there,
sure, but the dirt
has fingers in Ohio,
the dirt takes
the bloom without
crowning any of it.
Your animal declaration
will have to be made
without garden, with-
out a single jewel.
about the writer
Darren C. Demaree is the author of eight poetry collections, most recently “Two Towns Over”, which was selected the winner of the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press. He is the recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal. 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.