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.