Mark Danowsky


Commandment

I have known many

They look nothing like I expected

So humble, so apologetic 

So present, so attentive 

Active listeners, they nod

Approval, yes

Validation—all around

Neither seen nor heard? 

No, never

No strong arm 

& yet an outstretched hand



Commandment

Be the wolf
Because you know the alternative

Be the lamb
Because you never stood a chance

Be the wing
Because you are fragile

Be the ghost 
Because you cannot let go



Commandment 

Know when you need help
& ask for it

Screw Obi-Wan—
You are your own best hope

Tell yourself, again, in the mirror
I have power, I have power 

You are who you are right now
You can be someone else tomorrow 

All the wrong people 
Appear to have all the right vices 

Get to know yourself 
At the bottom of a glass

Microdose mushrooms
& then answer 

Sabotage all you wish 
Until you see the red flags 

No one punches pillows
So take a breath, take a pill



Commandment 

No one sets out to kill

There is a time
There is a place

Listen to mothers
Listen to women

Don’t preach to me about freedom



Commandment 

Who would you kill
in the name of?

Blood or

Betrayal, maybe?

A hand deservedly 
given the chop?

Good neighbors tell each other
pretty little lies 

Build only walls
around your heart 

Ask first
your neighbor may be on board 

People will give & give
if you give them the right reasons



Commandment 

I want it all 
even if it’s fake 
               —Charli XCX

Who cares about the haves
When the have nots suffer?

The have nots care

Who cares about the have nots
When the haves suffer?

No one

You know what they say?

They call it a class war 

They call it any war they did not condone or
Orchestrate 

They call it a wrong war since
There are no winners in a real war 

They want you on your knees

Mark Danowsky is Editor-in-Chief of ONE ART: a journal of poetry, Senior Editor for Schuylkill Valley Journal, Poetry Craft Essays Editor for Cleaver Magazine, and a Regular Contributor for Versification. He is author of the poetry collection As Falls Trees (NightBallet Press) and JAWN forthcoming from Moonstone Press.

 
 

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