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EMILY AS A HANDFUL OF BOLTS FROM A COFFEE CAN

“I cannot hold the light for her”

Published onNov 25, 2020
EMILY AS A HANDFUL OF BOLTS FROM A COFFEE CAN

Evening is coming
close. The damage
from the repair

is calling to both
of us. No grief can
come from knowledge

& yet, I’m holding
a hammer. The bolts
from the can are use-

less to me. That does
not mean I regret
making the fist to hold

them for Emily.
I am tense most
of the time for Emily.

I’m not entirely certain
what’s happened,
& in this dim

I cannot hold the light
for her, so I am picking
up everything.

I shake my body
at the world for her.
Occasionally, that works.


Darren C. Demaree’s poems have appeared or are scheduled to appear in numerous journals, including Hotel Amerika, Diode, North American Review, New Letters, Diagram, and Colorado Review. He has published thirteen collections of poetry, most recently So Clearly Beautiful (Adelaide Books, 2019). He lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.

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