by Darren C. Demaree
I heard you call this
a history of aesthetics
& you are wrong.
This is a history
& an answer to a history
& it goes beyond
the display of knowing.
If I feel a God anywhere,
it’s in not knowing.
If I feel a hope anywhere,
it’s in the agitation of folks
that can’t stop asking.
You want answers
& to not be afraid.
Let’s be braver than that.
Darren C. Demaree is the author of twenty-four poetry collections, most recently Now Flourish Northern Cardinal, (Small Harbor Publishing, November 2025). He is the recipient of a Greater Columbus Arts Council Grant, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal. He is currently working in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system.
Hawaii Pacific Review 