New Poetry by Mark Danowsky

Lucky 

If I was a woman 

I likely would have died 

In the same situation

I lucked through 

Broken eggshells

Carefully swept aside 

I tried protector 

Up latest 

Awake first 

Staying up with our dog 

The cat making do

With attitude 

I played every role I could 

Never well enough

My own frailties 

Shining through  

You knew them all 

& pushed each button 

Breaking them down 

Stuck in 

You went 

I stayed behind 

Then traveled back to 

Amazing— 

Then tragic

We could not help 

Ourselves apart 

On your open porch 

In view of the elements

& sometimes strangers 

We would laugh together

Damn

What insisted—

Take it all away?

All that anger turned inward

Stole our future 

I did it wrong, you know 

I told you I would save you 

When I could not

- © Mark Danowsky 2021

Mark Danowsky is Editor-in-Chief of ONE ART: a journal of poetry and Senior Editor for Schuylkill Valley Journal. He is author of the poetry collection As Falls Trees (NightBallet Press). His work has appeared in Bird Watcher’s Digest, Cleaver Magazine, Gargoyle, The Healing Muse, and elsewhere.