By: Darren C. Demaree

There is a lot of cereal
in the modern marriage.
Emily buys a lot of cereal

& so I eat a lot of cereal.
I could be more specific
about the granolas

& the chocolate rice
she buys because the children
love the chocolate rice,

but really, what matters
to Emily is that I keep
spoons in my pocket

everywhere I go. Ask me
to show you a spoon.
I’m always ready for Emily.

Darren C. Demaree is the author of eleven poetry collections, most recently Emily As Sometimes the Forest Wants the Fire (June 2019, Harpoon Books). He is the recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louis Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal. He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology and Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.