What Rough Beast | Poem for March 19, 2018

Vivian Wagner
How to Survive a Nuclear War

I have no idea, but I think
it might have something to do
with Netflix and popcorn.
Shutters on the windows?
Probably a good idea.
Also, wipe radioactive
dust from your dog’s paws
and throw the towel in
the wash right away.
Go to sleep early, because
that’s always best, anyway.
Something about masks and
fallout shelters and special
glasses, I assume, though I
don’t know where to get them.
Everything will be fine.
Just take a deep breath.
Or, maybe, don’t.

 

Vivian Wagner is the author of the poetry collection The Village (Kelsay Books, 2017) and the memoir Fiddle: One Woman, Four Strings, and 8,000 Miles of Music (Citadel-Kensington, 2010). Her work has appeared in Muse /A Journal, Forage Poetry JournalPittsburgh Poetry ReviewMcSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Creative Nonfiction, The Atlantic, The Ilanot Review, Silk Road Review, Zone 3, Eyedrum Periodically, 3QR, and other publications. Wagner is an associate professor of English at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio.

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