A Poem by Darren C. Demaree

WE ARE ARROWS

#195

Segmented

fruit, we have
arrived in
stages, we
have entered
with a
piercing
action,
without sound,
without regret
for the
minimalist
thwack of our
descent.                       
        We have
no existence
until we
acknowledge
the width of
our own
shoulders.                       
        We have
no existence
until we
reassemble the
great path
that crumpled
to deliver us.                       
       We are
heart-
stopping, as
in our hearts
can stop at
any moment,
and this is
why we are so
desperate to
prove that we
have existed
at all.                       
       If you
trip near the
edge of this
problem, shed
your weight,
and it could
be flight you
have found.

Darren C. Demaree's poems have appeared, or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including the South Dakota Review, Meridian, The Louisville Review, Grist, and the Colorado Review. 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).  He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology. Darren currently lives and writes in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.