SELF-IMPOSED ISOLATION

by Mark Danowsky

Philadelphia. Credit WMMR drone.

I do my due diligence
staying inside

I go for walks—
sometimes twice a day

I try to get 6000 steps

I try to make a day feel like a day

I have my tea

I try to find words

I try to reach out via the virtual

Sometimes I cover my bed in books
then fail to crack a single one

I tell myself today will be the day
I pick up a paint brush

I have so many problems
that are good problems to have

I go out shopping once a week now

I made it almost two weeks twice
but I felt like I was losing touch

Since we cannot touch
I tell myself other senses take primacy

Once I got in the car and took to the highway
to get to a good speed
                                                                                                                 
Then I walked the main drag
in another ghost town

I miss the feeling of being in motion

Being in motion was helping me
in this era of grief


Mark Danowsky is a poet / writer from Philadelphia and author of the poetry collection As Falls Trees (NightBallet Press, 2018). He’s Managing Editor for the Schuylkill Valley Journal.