Ceiling Monster

A summer poem? What else, in this simmering summer weather we're having now in Ohio?

We're no doubt making up for those unseasonably cool days we enjoyed ... while hoping they would last forever ... earlier this summer.

So, simmer -- er, summer, it is.

And, today, it's a summer poem ...

Oh, how many times this has happened to me ... I settle into my favorite chair, pick up a book ... or a magazine ... and lean back. Next thing I know, I'm waking up again.

But this time, at least, I got a poem out of it:

CEILING MONSTER

Five blades embrace

heavy summer air

while four globes stare

at a pair of strings,

slender, descending

like spiders seeking

new worlds to claim,

and my eyelids flutter,

fighting against sleep,

for I have sat down

intending only to read

a few paragraphs,

but find I'm slipping

now, glasses off, my book

slowly rising, falling

as it rests on my chest,

both of us helpless

against that monster

whirring, soothing,

cooling, hypnotizing

us in the afternoon.

© 1998

(originally published in Capper's)

***

Today's word: hypnotizing

Afterthoughts ... in response to your comments:

I couldn't help noticing the time at which you posted your comment, Featheredpines, and I would say, if the ceiling monster were available to travel, yes, we'll dispatch it right away. On the otherhand, maybe my poetry will help to send you sliding into the arms of sleep.