Growing up in Phoenix
I thought exhaust fans
in other people’s bathrooms
were put there to remove
the smells
& I asked my dad why
we didn’t have exhaust
fans & he said
there was no humidity
in the desert & the window
near the ceiling, above
the bath tub,
was enough for us.
I didn’t understand then
what humidity was
(because we lived
in a fucking desert)
& I thought my dad
was saying, exhaust fans
were for people
who thought their shit
didn’t stink & I really
didn’t know any better,
until a few years later,
when, one night,
my new girlfriend
snuck me into her bedroom
& I smoked a cigarette
in her bathroom
with the exhaust fan on
& it still smelled
like tobacco the next day
so her parent’s grounded her
& shortly afterwards
she broke up with me.
Fucking exhaust fans.
