What doesn't clear

Three in the morning.

You turned it on and the dust

just sat there.

Gray. Caught in the streetlight

coming through the blinds.

The blades spun beneath it,

pushing air around the dust

but never moving the dust.

You watched for a long time.

The fan kept going.

The dust didn't.

There's something wrong with a thing

that works but doesn't.

That keeps its motion

and nothing changes.

You didn't turn it off.