by Darren C. Demaree

NUDE MALE WITH ECHO #91

I still have four
rum knots
under
my left shoulder blade.

I’m saving
them like a spy
that cares more
for country

than for ever
returning
to that country.
Caught,

I could always, pop,
pop,
pop, pop,
be gone again

forever this time
in the wind
& finally
part of the wind,

finally
holding on
to nothing
but the rush away.

 
NUDE MALE WITH ECHO #92

I am not coy
with my shadow.
I step on that fucker
every chance I get.

 
NUDE MALE WITH ECHO #93

There’s a lake
near my house
near my body

& all three of us
are full of road signs
& the vehicles

that follow road signs.
The guiltless piling
inside the guilty,

that will change
the scenery,
that will ruin

all of the beliefs.
Initially, I was just
incredibly lonely.

---

Darren C. Demaree is the author of As We Refer to Our Bodies (8th House, 2013), Temporary Champions (Main Street Rag, 2014), The Pony Governor (2015, After the Pause Press) and Not For Art Nor Prayer (8th House, 2015). He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.