[her body]
by Darren C. Demaree
[her body]
i told my daughter her body was no landscape and no narrative her body is an ocean and a moon and there is no freckle no nail no strand of hair that she is not in charge of and that means that if we do this right she will continue the proper revolution that leads to her lifting up the whole of our government in her hands and shaking them the way they so badly want to shake her and if she doesn’t stop until their tongues are flags in the wind then that is her decision because i’m not raising an american or an ohioan i’m raising a girl that will become a woman and she will know her body is whatever the fuck she decides it is and any sail that any person tries to stick in her back to change her path will be burned in a pile i give her when she no longer needs me to write such things
Darren C. Demaree
Darren C. Demaree is living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children. He is the author of ten poetry collections. He is the recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. He is also the winner of the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal, and the recipient of ten Pushcart Prize nominations.