Emily As We Bring Ourselves To The Creek – Darren C. Demaree

   for Bianca Stone

Not all ferocity

is gothic, but we bring

our favorite paintings

to the edge

of the light

& undeniable force

of a casual water

that dies all the time,

but refuses to die

without our witness.

How much

of a fairy tale is the oil

that holds on

to the canvasses

we offer fifty yards from

the land we own?

How much does it matter

that we use four hands

to drown the art

we’ve bought? That is

such a limited question.

Besides, we re-hang it all.

Darren C. Demaree is the author of fourteen poetry collections, most recently “Unfinished Murder Ballads”, (October 2020, Backlash Press).  He is the recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louis Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal.