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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Questions About Home Repair

We moved in quickly
once the decision was made
and worked hastily,
filled in jagged cracks
with the malleable goo of
white caulk, tubes and tubes
of the stuff, smoothed with a finger
over rough wood from another time,
a perfect concave shape ready
to be painted over and forgotten--

So now--

years later
I use heat and force to pull
the cracked and shrunken caulk
away from that same old wood,
taking it down deeper now to its
earthy brown essence, peeling layers
of paint—that cheap latex we used
comes right off in sheets--and
I think of the quick fix of
two innocent, ignorant new
homeowners working close
but not together on walls
and trim work, hastily
painting only what's seen,
not really breaking a sweat
or working too hard--the paint
peels in irregular patterns,
until, in maroon under green
under white, a question mark
appears and my work halts,
tools down, as I search,
reach for these words.

4 comments:

Electrician Logan said...

The thing about home repairs that I can share is that one always has to remember to not try to do too much especially alone. When it comes to home repairs, when it is something serious and you don't know much about it, it's better to let the professionals handle the problem.

home improvement said...

I think your home repair ideas are so great, it's quite important to know these little details when you're a home owner because you never know when tragedy will strike and it's better to be prepared for it.

home improvement said...

I think your home repair ideas are so great, it's quite important to know these little details when you're a home owner because you never know when tragedy will strike and it's better to be prepared for it.

steverino said...

I heart bot-comments, especially the cautionary ones. I think your comments on my home-improvement ideas are great, too... but you may want to check your thesaurus a bit more frequently.

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