Apocalyptic Rehab | By Puma Perl
Every day is different,
and every day’s the same
Sleep patterns vary
It’s more like giving in
than waking up and,
like a good patient,
I diligently make my bed
and never return to it
during daylight hours
Over morning coffee,
Cynthia and I text message
and discuss our daily
treatment plans
Meditation, breathing, chanting,
stretching, creative writing
Mid-morning Cuomo break
She practices kickboxing
I attempt gentle yoga
She suggests music therapy
You close your eyes,
no multi-tasking allowed
I lean towards jazz
in my sessions,
Sonny and Dexter and Coltrane
Yesterday, Cynthia chose Sinatra
Today it’s Exile on Main Street
Short term goals include:
Time limits on social media
and news reports,
wash your hair,
practice positivity,
call three people daily.
and always know what day it is
There are no long-term goals
Always, there are dilemmas
Are there enough clean towels?
Do we risk the laundry room?
Should I walk the dog in the park?
Should she take a field trip
to her building’s backyard?
Should we check the mail?
Maybe a Zoom 12-step meeting
Maybe a liquor store delivery
Hard to choose
Visiting hours are Mondays
through Thursdays
Diva is my only guest
She doesn’t say much
but she listens intently
and wags her tail
Sometimes
there’s a care package
attached to her leash
Once a week
Joe dons his Dion hat
and shades,
invites us all
into his basement
50 or 100 friends
He plays our favorite songs
and laughs at his own jokes,
brings us together
for an hour or two
Last night he closed the session
with one of my poems
“Riding with Heroin”
followed “Pale Blue Eyes”
Ron dropped in from Prague
and Renegade Dave from the UK
This is how our days go
There are meals to prepare
Food shopping to plan
The governor’s press conferences
The Walking Dead
and The Hunters
Family to check in on
People to miss
People to mourn
and time is rolling on
more quickly
than we’d imagined,
the world spinning,
rebelling
Venice canals run clear
Birds returned to China
New York City’s air cleanest
we’ve breathed in years
The nights are quiet
except for the sirens
And every evening,
at exactly 7PM,
our city changes its beat
We leave our dinner tables.
our computers, our phones
Turn off the televisions
and cheer
Pots and pans banging
Whistles and fireworks
New York, New York
blasting from fire escapes
People shouting from terraces
rooftops, windows, porches.
louder and longer
each evening
while the hospital workers
change shift
and the bodegas
lock up for the night
as the home health aides
walk to the subway
and a new group of heroes
begin their 12-hour work days
Afterwards,
we pour a glass of wine
or a shot of Jameson,
pull down the shades,
and contemplate
our treatment plans
for another day
in Apocalyptic Rehab.
© puma perl, 04/05/2020
Puma Perl is a poet and writer, with five solo collections in print. The most recent is Birthdays Before and After (Beyond Baroque Books, 2019.) She is the producer/creator of Puma’s Pandemonium, which brings spoken word together with rock and roll, and she performs regularly with her band Puma Perl and Friends. She’s received three New York Press Association awards in recognition of her journalism, and is the recipient of the 2016 Acker Award in the category of writing. Her most recent books can be found by clicking here.
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