Eleven Years of Checking the Same Four Things

Count

One coat in the hall
that fits no one
who lives here.

One chair at the table
that no one pulls out.

One cup on the second shelf
with a crack at the handle
that I have not thrown away.

Every night I check
the same four things:

the lock,
the stove,
the window,
the ________.

I say: four.
I say: the lock is locked.
I say: the stove is off.
I say: the window is latched.
I say: the ________ is ________.

I have said this
for eleven years.

The lock has been changed once.
The stove has been replaced.
The window has been painted shut
and pried open again.

The ________ has not changed.
The ________ will not change.
The ________ is the only thing
in this house
I have never once
had to fix.