What Doesn't Hold

I grabbed the knob this morning to leave,

and it spun sideways with no reprieve—

loose in its socket, no grip,

no intention of holding tight on my trip.

They had to have felt it before,

every time they opened that door,

but they never fixed it, never tried,

just let the broken thing slide.

There's a message in that,

I think—the way they let it fall flat,

the way some people stop caring

about keeping things in repair.

So I didn't say anything.

I didn't offer to bring

a new knob, a new lock,

or anything else to fix the broken socket.

I just left my coat on their chair

and didn't ask them to repair

the door that wouldn't hold,

the thing they let grow old.