Apocalyptic Acceptance

03/26/22

Taken by Caylie Hausman at Pirámides de Teotihuacán; Mexico City, Mexico; 2022

I’ve accepted
the apocalypse’s arrival.

I don’t know when
he’ll arrive,

or how, but I know
I’ll be here–

because how can the world
go on

like
this?

Sinking–
each other,

ships,
airplanes,

people,
hopes and dreams.

I’ve accepted the
Apocalypse’s arrival,

and kept on living
just like every generation before me.

I believe in doomsday,
just not the prep.

Why prep to be alive,
when we’ll still be sinking

each other
for a living?

Prep with as much
fervor

as a kid trying
to avoid a nap–

or an insomniac at midnight,
finding melatonin

or ambien,
but know it will swallow us all

just as we’ve
swallowed each other’s pride and happiness

for dessert,
somehow keeping

the mood light
and the taste edible,

relishing
in the peril of another.