Family Visit by Mark Danowsky

End of the first days off this year.

Two days, one recovery, it’s July.

One thing I know, there is a report
waiting for me, still, from last Thursday.

My oldest friend, like an older brother, once
told me you need to take long vacations
because that’s how you know who you’d be
if you didn’t have to work.

Probably, like a brother, too
he doesn’t remember telling me this
or any other sage advice I’ve taken to heart.



Mark Danowsky is a writer from Philadelphia who lives in West Virginia. His poems have appeared in About Place, Cordite, Gargoyle, Right Hand Pointing, Shot Glass Journal, Subprimal, and elsewhere. Mark is Managing Editor for the Schuylkill Valley Journal and Founder of the poetry coaching and editing service VRS CRFT.