POE is a framework for cooperative, event driven multitasking and networking in
Perl. Other languages have similar frameworks. Python has Twisted. TCL has "the
event loop".

POE originally was developed as the core of a persistent object server and
runtime environment. It has since evolved into something much more generic and
widely useful.

POE provides a unified interface for several other event loops, including
select(), IO::Poll, Glib, Gtk, Tk, Wx, Gtk2, and so on. Check the CPAN for the
full list of POE::Loop modules.

POE is designed in layers, each building atop the lower level ones. Programs
are free to use POE at any level of abstraction, and different levels can be
mixed and matched seamlessly within a single program.

POE's bundled abstraction layers are the tip of a growing iceberg. Sprocket,
POE::Stage, and other CPAN distributions build upon this work. You're
encouraged to look around.

No matter how high you go, though, it all boils down to calls to POE::Kernel.
So your down-to-earth code can easily cooperate with stratospheric systems.