Three Poems on Emily, part 2

by Darren C. Demaree

Mitch Gaiser

EMILY AS WE FATTEN THE TETHER

I am down in it

trying  to convince

the innate matter of our marriage

that my body can be

stretched enough

to be part

of our marriage.

There are so many

moods

in an absence.

They all pull

on me

in the ways

I do not find pleasing at all.

EMILY AS SHE CHOOSES THE WAFFLE CONE

I have just enough money to improve our small joys.

EMILY AS THE REMNANTS OF A DARK AND ADDICTING BEAUTY

Let me be stark. Emily’s not here. I am. I’ve crossed

the room to put my hand where she once sat.

I got warm just approaching this couch.

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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 twelve poetry collections, most recently Nude Male with Echo (8th House Publishing). He is the managing editor of the Best of the Net Anthology and Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently living and writing in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.