I tell you the worse version
So you'll tell me
It wasn't as bad as I say
He wears the same
underwear I wear
Inside-out
For reasons that
Embarass me
He wears a fake luxury belt
Like one I bought as a half joke
Except I know better
Or tell myself so
The blood is in his mouth
But that's not where we can look
So we look below the neck
Above the waist
Fearing every in-between
I see the branding in my dreams
because like Charli says
I want it all
Even if it's fake
This is not fake—
The child run down
Shot bloody
Shot through
Shot dead
I have avoided watching
More than I feel I am allowed to admit
Design tricks me down this rabbit hole
& so I see & do not understand
& have to see again & again
& from other perspectives
& it is written
None provide a verdict
A child of thirteen dead
& I know no more only more
That this dream we claim is a mirror
Shattered by lost souls
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.