Puma Perl

Just Another Day

In midafternoon

on New Year’s Eve Day

he cancelled the plans

that he had initiated

I was not surprised,

just annoyed because now

I’d have to buy my own food

My heart remained dark

and unmoved

Connections are meaningless

if our souls are all the same

once you peel away egos

and black leather jackets

Without bodies

there’s nothing left

to exchange

but the air we breathe,

the sky we see,

the swords we bury

so deep below the surface

they’ll never be found

On New Year’s Eve Day

it was not his cancellation

that crushed my heart

despite my clumsy efforts

to piece the puzzles

back together

Once said, words

will never be unsaid

We writers are blessed

with memory

and cursed

with perfect recall

It’s hard to admit,

but my dark heart

sometimes shatters

just like his recollections

It’s easy to lose hours

like leopard gloves

and broken umbrellas

Just another night

Backup plans trashed

Chinese food on the way

Everybody lying low. 

Puma Perl is a poet, writer, performer and producer. She’s the author of two chapbooks, Ruby True and Belinda and Her Friends, and three full-length poetry collections, knuckle  tattoos, Retrograde and Birthdays Before and After. She’s the creator, curator, and producer of Puma’s Pandemonium, which brings spoken word together with rock and roll. She’s received three awards from the New York Press Association in recognition of her journalism and was the recipient of the 2016 Acker Award in the category of writing