Foundations by Mark Danowsky

Abraham Lincoln and His Father Building Their Cabin on Pigeon Creek, by Horace Pippin, 1934.

Foundations

It used to be presidential
to do hard labor
to pull yourself up
by your bootstraps—an act
which requires the wearing of boots

What’s left is the escape
to spots like Camp David
built in another time
by other hands—similar often
only in following in your father’s footsteps

Mark Danowsky

Mark Danowsky’s poetry has appeared in Alba, Cordite, Grey Sparrow, Mobius, Shot Glass Journal, Third Wednesday and other journals. Mark is originally from the Philadelphia area, but currently resides in North-Central West Virginia. He works for a private detective agency and is Managing Editor for the Schuylkill Valley Journal.