By Puma Perl
A red eye.
An escape.
Or both.
I once moved
four doors
down the block
to escape a
bad relationship.
He never found me.
I didn’t even need
a plane ticket.
Just better judgment.
Puma Perl is a poet, writer, and performer and the author of two chapbooks, and three full-length poetry collections, knuckle tattoos (erbacce Press, 2010), Retrograde (Great Weather for MEDIA, 2014), and Birthdays Before and After (Beyond Baroque Books, 2019). She is the front woman and primary lyricist in The Puma Perl Band, brings spoken word together with rock and roll. She’s received five 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. With musician Joe Sztabnik, she recently released a record album, Under Tenement Skies, available in vinyl, CD and digital download.