Darren C. Demaree

THE ICE WILL KEEP OUR TIDE AT THE READY

    For John McCormick, Yvonne Rutford, and Ryan Vine

A monument to the possibility
that a seven-year soup may be
required to feel the heat of good

action again, I have decided
to perch myself next to Lake Superior,
to cancel flights, slash tires, give

the wind a good shot at me
from all angles. I see how often
the water wants to rise. I see how

so many people can balk at walking
across the this division of animal
& the animal of the water's assault.

Numb with beauty, eventually
I expect to be numbed by caution,
but if we decided to release

two million balloons from the shore-
line, they would be in Canada
before they ever understood the fear

that was driving them north. There!
A roll of the lake's shoulders, a heave
of spirit, a sneaky lick of the large,

black rocks. On second thought,
maybe I will just take a picture
& witness this sequence from Duluth,

where the dominos of the season
will only slightly rattle my belief
that all of that ice will someday find

me in Ohio, will deliver a message
that I really never understood
what it was the particulars

of this ghost spring can really do.
The jewel never chooses the setting.
The energy is mostly spent building

answers to what might happen next
& from almost every angle this great,
heaving body feels like a beautiful threat.

Darren C. Demaree's poems have appeared, or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including Stirring, The South Dakota Review, Meridian, The Louisville Review, Grist, and Whiskey Island. He is the author of "As We Refer To Our Bodies" (2013, 8th House), "Temporary Champions" (2014, Main Street Rag), and "Not For Art Nor Prayer" (2015, 8th House) and the recipient of three Pushcart Prize nominations and a Best of the Net nomination. he is currently living and writing in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.