Writing the Apocalypse is a weekly series featuring the poems, essays, and recollections of

Puma Perl, with subject matter influenced by her experiences

as a NYC resident during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winning the Pandemic | BY PUMA PERL

I hear a lot about pandemic achievements

 

Bread baking yoga posing piano playing

shirt designing weight losing city walking

lesson learning meditating crocheting

champions of the new world

 

What are my accomplishments?

I ask myself

 

I wrote a bunch of poems,

but I would have done that anyway

 

I formed attachments to plants

and flowers and saved their lives

when the wind them tipped them over

 

I learned a few new facts, like how

you can never run out of Law and Order episodes

Even when you think you’ve seen them all

they sneak up on you with a whole new batch

 

I talked on the phone much more regularly,

sometimes about Law and Order

and why we watch it,

other times about fear and death

But at 4AM, what else do you talk about?

I often talked on phone at 4AM

 

I helped keep Diva alive,

didn’t want 2020 to take her, too

 

Always a wise and sagacious dog,

she waited until February 18, 2021

 

Did we humans transcend these times

or are we just broken noses,

always the same, no matter

the surgeon’s skill or the extensiveness

of the reconstruction

 

I help others more with my mind

than my heart

My true nature continues to baffle

myself and others

 

This past year and the space it held

finds me rambling,

thoughts half-finished,

the bed half-made,

the dishes half-washed,

the closet half-cleaned

 

I pause to water a geranium,

and remember to add a line

another half-finished poem.

 

© puma perl, 04/05/2021

 

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.

Chelsea Community News is made possible with the help of our awesome advertisers, and the support of our readers. If you like what you see, please consider taking part in our GoFundMe campaign (click here). To make a direct donation, give feedback, or send a Letter to the Editor, email scott@chelseacommunitynews.com.