Emily as a Path, Not an Escape
by Darren C. Demaree
I learned to sleep
next to Emily
without digging
my fingers into
her ribs. It took
me four years
of sobriety to get
there. Now,
we rest as the ocean
rests. There
is blood sometimes,
but by the time
we find bubbles
the color is swallowed
by the color.
The salt is everywhere.
She is with the salt.
I wake up
& I can taste
my path.
It’s terrifying-
ly simple.
I am alive in
this simplicity.
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 Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology and Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.