I laugh on this side.
I laugh on the other side.

I’m not sure where I am
& I am laughing at that.
That was a decision I made

to take on the immensity,
the sheer swallowing
of the world inhabited
by so many small pieces

& so much weight
with my own small laugh.

It was either that
or I run screaming down
every street, until I collapse

into the pile of piles kept
away from the thoroughfare.Darren C. Demaree is the author of five poetry collections, most recently The Nineteen Steps Between Us (2016, After the Pause Press). 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.