Slip-N-Slide

A quick note before the poem—those who have been following me (bless you all) may have noticed a titling discrepancy between these Views Of… poems. That has simply been laziness on my part. The official title of the series is “36 Views of My Room”, regardless of what the header title actually ends up being. That said…

View 23: Rotating Blades

It started, I suppose, with the radio.
I’d lay in bed with the lights out
Playing with my stuffed animals
While the songs of Michael W. Smith
Or Carmen would begin to lure me asleep.

I got to a place where I found music too
Interesting (terrible though my taste in music
Was when I was in middle school).
I’d lay in bed listening to music and not sleep.

But the silence wasn’t silent—
Too much environmental noise.
I’d toss and turn.

And hear.

The white noise of a fan was—and is—my salvation.
Just a simple box fan. They’re but $15 at WalMart.
And it buys me sleep where passing cars or hollering
Neighbors or barking dogs cannot interrupt me.

And perhaps most importantly: it saves me from myself.

By Jacob Gehman