Sediment

I pulled the beaded metal chain

for the first time since the frost.

The motor hummed a low, dry note

and the blades began to labor.

A heavy clump of gray, oily felt

let go of the leading edge.

It fell straight down into my eye,

wet and matted with a year of skin.

I stood there blinking in the dark,

tasting the attic in my throat,

while the fan beat the stagnant air

into something slightly less dead.