The Putty Marks

The rooms are too big when the boxes are gone.

The sunlight hits the floor in a way I never saw

when the rug was covering the scuff marks

near the radiator that always hissed.

I peeled the posters off the drywall today

and found the four oily spots left behind.

Blue putty stains like small, round ghosts

where I tried to make the place look like me.

I checked the high shelf in the closet one last time

and found a single gray sock balled in the corner.

It’s been there since the first winter, probably,

waiting for a pair that’s already three miles away.