white pellets

i dragged the damp box up from the cellar. sliced the tape with a steak knife. the chemical stink was sharp and mean. white pellets spilled across the linoleum. i pulled out the heavy brown coat. it smelled like poison and old men. we fill our rooms with toxic gas just to keep the bugs off a ten dollar rag. i put the coat on. the heater was broken again. i pushed my hands into the deep pockets and found a dead moth. it rubbed into grey dirt on my thumb. i wiped it on my pants and stood by the window.