The tube is heavy and smells like a salad gone wrong

The tube is heavy and smells like a salad gone wrong,

all white vinegar and chemical rot.

I’m trying to bridge the gap between the tub

and the wall that’s slowly turning into a map of a swamp.

My thumb is caked in the silicone paste.

It’s trapped in the ridges of my skin,

a white ghost of a fingerprint

left on the baseboard to harden and stay.

I’m just hiding the black spots, really.

Covering the rot with a bead of something clean.