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.

Everything is Something | BY PUMA PERL

The world as we knew it has ended.

Early in the mornings, I take pictures to prove that the sun still rises

and the river still moves and the ferry boat still honks its horn

as it sets out for Brooklyn, one passenger aboard, maybe three.

Despite the Camp Auschwitz T-shirts,

despite the Nazi nightmares,

despite white zombie bugs and cretins climbing buildings,

the river flows and the ferry boat honks its horn.

I try to make poetry out of the anti-poetry.

What the fuck do I write this week? I ask Joe.

Nothing, he responds. Don’t write anything.

Submit a blank page, like the Beatles White Album.

Great idea, I tell him. Do you mind if I steal it?

Instead, I add his blank thoughts to my blank page.

All day, I look out the window and wait.

Wait for the dog, wait for the anti-fogger to arrive in the mail,

wait for the vaccine appointment, wait to get through the day,

wait for impeachment and inauguration. Wait for the sun.

It’s all as complicated as a trip to buy groceries,

and as simple as beginning the next moment in time.

The world is not the one we knew,

or the one we acknowledged.

Organize masks and sanitizers, grapple with websites,

carve some poetry out of the anti-poetry.

Because what else is left?

Everything is something, says Cynthia.

The dog arrives, the river moves, the sun sets

(a few minutes earlier than last week)

The world as we knew it spins

and it’s everything and it’s something

as it spins and spins and spins…

© Puma Perl, 01/14/2020

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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