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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