Emily as a Nonnegotiable Wave, A Rogue Wave, A Freak Sea
A body washes ashore.
A body is washed
so entirely
that the lighthouse
is replaced by the body
that has been thrown
through centuries
of rock & faith
& small tragedy
to become affixed
as a new, naked star.
I was born in the fields
near no saltwater
& now, without knowing
more than her name
I am the coast
crusted in her desire, hung
in that stasis where once
light did the trick.
Darren C. Demaree is the author of sixteen poetry collections, most recently “a child walks in the dark”, (December 2021, Harbor Editions). He is the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal.
