Evidence

Three videos. An hour on my knees.

The tube had good reviews. The tub

still had its gap, and now my expertise

had added to it—a white grub

of caulk along the edge, already

setting wrong. I tried the wet-finger trick

they show you. Dragged it steady

as I could. The bead went thick

in one place, thin in another.

The smell of it stayed on my hands

through lunch. The kind of bother

you can't unstart. The gap still stands,

technically closed, but visible—

worse than a clean admission

would have been. The divisible

nature of a bad decision:

you keep adding to it.

You smooth and it stays rough.

You seal it and it shows the split.

I washed my hands. Not enough.