poem
Volume 35, Number 3

Honest to God

I hear we live in the golden age
of television. The money is there.
I don’t know about talent. I know
most of us watch. We watch too much
we know.

I hear we live in the age of distraction.
Although, we struggle to forget
about our screens. They have designs on us.
It’s all the CEOs’ faults.
It’s barely a matter of personal responsibility
& that says something. I know you’re feeling
some type of way. They say we vote 
with our dollar. I do not know 
how to vote with cryptocurrency. 
Not yet.

If you can get yourself on the Dark Web
(which I hear is not so hard) 
you can purchase real illegal drugs
that will make your pain go away 
briefly. We chase the killer
of pain. Then we chase the chaser.

I look at all these strangers
who I do not believe notice me
& see all the ways they have been fleeced—
sold identities by obvious & nefarious 
billionaires behind curtains 
yes, like the Wizard of Oz 
which is why it’s good to keep in mind
Jeff Bezos originally wanted to name Amazon 
Relentless.

As an adult, I’m finally seeing the value 
in wearing brands. Sounds ironic, I know, 
but the whole idea is you put on 
your Nike gear & you say to yourself
Just do it     Just do it     Just do it
& you feel empowered to do 
what you think you want to do 
though maybe this is just the dream 
we’ve been sold by the great 
marketing minds.

I look around at all these strangers
& see in spite of all my efforts 
we are so much more in common 
& have few differing desires.
Honest to god, as they say, it’s a wonder 
we don’t spend more time congratulating others
on being just like us.


—Mark Danowsky