Two Poems by Darren Demaree

UNFINISHED MURDER BALLAD: THE STEM IS EXCLAMATION

Beauty-cord, severed, there is no leak after the fear arrives, and what does spill out is merely trouble behind the cement door of our own visions. I have seen flowers mangled. I have seen human flesh tear away from human flesh. I see your face and I can only think of how whole you must have been, before the fear gave you this awful stasis…

UNFINISHED MURDER BALLAD: EVERY FIST THROUGH

He had begged enough to beg the ponytail to leave him be, and once the pummeling felt like applause I suppose his insides went confetti just to join the celebration…

Darren C. Demaree 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). He is the recipient of three Pushcart Prize nominations and a Best of the Net nomination. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.