William Faulkner's Poem

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He goes by X. He tells me X means mystery, the unknown, the lost. Next to an O he tells me it means a kiss. He tells me it makes math easier for him, for every time his teacher says to 'find x', X replies with a 'right here.' He tells me x represents the Roman numeral for the number ten, and he tells me that even the blind would rate him as a ten. He tells me that x marks the spot for treasure, but with the suggestiveness in his voice I stop him every time. And he tells me that x also means the lost. The light fades from our eyes with those words, because we both know his battle has long been lost. I sit in the deflated and faded blue chair, tired head resting in my palm as my heart drones heavily in my chest. The smell of disinfectants…show more content…
A uniform color, each room like a snapshot that was copied and pasted repeatedly to make up the hospital floor. I hate it. In school we always learn white's association with purity and cleanliness. Every book, every short story, every poem, white seems to symbolize somebody's or something's essence of purity. I laugh at it, a dry laugh. Dressing the rooms in white to be clean and pure. Nothing clean or pure describes sickness. Nothing clean or pure defines watching someone die. I sit in the deflated and faded blue chair, tired head resting in my palm as my heart drones heavily in my chest. My eyes glance at the heart monitor screen, feeling its steady rhythm down to my stomach while I clench my jaw in anticipation for it to flatline. It does not. Not this time. Not yet. I find it hard not to stare, not to watch, not to supervise or monitor. The machines constantly remind me that they have that job, that they can save people. That they will save him. Paranoia haunts me during my visits, though, and I find it hard not to stare. So I watch him. I watch the fragile rise and fall of his chest, the steady inhales followed with steep exhales. Through the shaky process I can feel the oxygen freezing in my own lungs as I hesitate each breath, waiting to breathe until after he has in fear that he
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