poetry by Darren Demaree

ALL ALL #63

Are your hands in clay? The river runs
away. The deer are strangers. War wins
the art shows by bombing the art shows.
There are no mountains in this country
without full cemeteries in them.
A non-hole is hope? The crows mock us
from our empty fields. Nations suffer
to pass the time. Show me your right hand.
What can you carry today? Will you?

Darren Demaree’s poems have appeared, or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including Hotel Amerika, Diode, North American Review, New Letters, Diagram, and the Colorado Review. He is the author of twenty-four poetry collections, most recently Now Flourish Northern Cardinal (November 2025, Harbor Editions). He is also am the Co-Editor in Chief of the Best of the Net Anthology. He lives and writes in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.