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Robert H. Demaree Jr. -
Poet,
Burlington, NC & Wolfeboro, N.H.
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Robert Demaree is the author of
four collections of poems, including Fathers and Teachers (2007) and
Mileposts (2009), both published by Beech River Books. The winner of
the 2007 Conway, N.H., Library Poetry Award, he is a retired school
administrator with ties to North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New
Hampshire, where he lives four months of the year. He has had over
450 poems published or accepted by 100 periodicals, including Cold
Mountain Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Homestead Review, Pirene’s
Fountain and Paris/Atlantic, and in four anthologies including the
2008 and 2010 editions of Poet’s Guide to New Hampshire and
Celebrating Poets over 70. He lives in Burlington, N.C. and
Wolfeboro, N.H., USA. For further information see
http://www.demareepoetry.blogspot.com
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SHAVING
Rite that binds fathers and sons:
In a box somewhere we still have
His badger-hair brush, a styptic pencil,
Dried and crumbling.
For years I used expensive aftershave,
Imagining its sweet musk to be
The scent of distance and success.
I see him in his last years,
Puzzled by the face in the mirror,
His razor rubbing wrinkled skin raw
With its single-edged blade.
At the drugstore this morning
I am drawn to buy
A seven-ounce bottle
Of classic, ice-blue
Williams Aqua Velva.
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LOON CENSUS
Early on a Saturday in July
I sit on the dock
As the sun peers out
From behind the pines
Along the shore,
Watching, listening
For the loon’s sad call,
(Where are you, where are you?)
Staring into waters
That seem to bear the marks
Of grandsons splashing.
Yesterday they started home
And the family that cries in airports
Was again moist with—what?—
Love, memory,
The tenuousness of our grip |
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POEM
How else to capture loss,
Save the adagio
Of a Russian symphony,
Those few words, the abiding image:
Empty chairs at the graveside,
Soft rain
On the funeral home
Canopy. |
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