Mark Danowsky

Mark Danowsky is editor-in-chief of One Art: A Journal of Poetry. He is the author of Meatless (Plan B Press) and several other short poetry collections. Take Care is forthcoming from Moon Tide press in 2025.

Doling Out

all the people I want to call
don’t want to hear from me
or can’t
& I’m down again
not eager to reach out
anyway
my latest rabbit hole
varies hour by hour
let alone who I was yesterday
so you know
last week I was sleeping
a whole lot better
which is saying something
like the way no one does
not in their own bed
& I feel interrupted
& self-interruptible
increasingly
as if social media
did not already own
half my days
& the rest of my time
was long ago sold
so I parcel out
the spare moments
hoping I can keep
on keeping on
doing what y’all
say you love me for
which is all
all I’ve ever wanted
since I was a kid
giving all my toys
away to witness
brief joy