CITY DEER
By Darren Demaree

CITY DEER #13

there is play in emerging from the trees to consume to raise your head to bat  your ears against the quiet that will always raise a head to meet you there i don’t care that they avoid me that they avoid my dogs it’s just an incredibly life-affirming entrance so often i have seen them in the light & i have been able to talk myself into leaving the house

CITY DEER #14

i dug a fire pit i placed rocks around it i collected all of the sticks from the yard i lugged the branch that had fallen from the dead tree on the property line i used an axe for something other than a mirror i am excited to see what tomorrow brings

CITY DEER #15

my thighs always tucked beneath the athletic shorts are never excited about the split of the day that can erase the red flag’s movements my thighs know about the suits in my closet neither of us care much about the suits in my closet i have been incredibly fortunate to watch that expensive cloth wither

About the Author:

Darren C. Demaree is the author of nine poetry collections, most recently “Bombing the Thinker”, which was published by 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.  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.