The Whistling Toilet

on a lighter note, an imaginative story

First my toilet began to whistle, a surprisingly human sound

I was amused as I listened then I jiggled and flushed it to reset

which did not work nor did poking in the works to stop its whistling

it only stopped on its own after a long while

my toilet had become a whistler and the frequency

of its episodes increased.

Again I took the top of the tank off and fiddled around to no avail

I would have to call the landlord, what a hassle, so I procrastinated

tolerating the sound amongst the many stressors that surrounded me.

This was the same period in which some Palo Verde bugs

had appeared in my house, in which the headlines blared escalations

of violence and rising bigotry, the same period in which I personally

seemed a failure on many counts, I seemed not a failure

but someone who might instead redefine success

mental illness had taken a bite from my life

and controlling stress was a main point in my strategy

my strategy of recovery.

I procrastinated calling the landlord because

I would have to put away all evidence of my marijuana use

and bolster myself for our recurrent personality clash

So the toilet kept whistling increasingly and then one day

I heard it whistling a slightly familiar song.

The toilet was whistling "Jolene!"

I was surprised and impressed

soon I realized I'd had several good

solid hours with my symptoms abated

my extra voices had subsided

grateful me

soon I realized where my extra voices had gone

could it be

they had gone into the toilet, not into the bowl to be flushed

but into the tank, the porcelain cabinet, into the works to whistle

to be heard and be voices

no longer inside my head to drive me crazy

but now incorporated into an inanimate object

a clever machine I've always appreciated

to sing, to make a repetitive noise, to voice

sometimes to sing

a phrase or a song

enjoy stay strong

Reviews

[alanwgraham]

Good Evyn. Hidden depths somewhere in this story. You think its the loo but it always ends up in your head. I like your story with its murky connotations. You might like my latest story 'egg' that might blow some whistles for you.
Cheers, alan

[Evyn Rubin]

Thanks you.