Oozing, the glue seeps from the hole
I pricked because the lid was stuck.
I wiped its stream along the join
and held the pieces tight, hoping
my fingers wouldn’t do the same.
Fortuitously, for once, they didn’t because
the gooey flow continued, despite
stopping squeezing it some time before.
Grappling with my spare hand I tried
to wipe it off and stem the flow.
Bits of cloth stuck to the nozzle,
whilst goblets adhered to my digits.
Letting go of the join I went
to clean them off, only to find
the wayward pieces sprang apart.
Cursing, I grabbed them. A big mistake.
Now cloth and glue and wood and fingers
combined to make an unholy mess,
whilst in the corner of my eye the
determined adhesive freely flowed.
This time the glue securely bonded.

Reaching for the glue today I found the lid had stuck to the tube – not surprising, it’s glue after all!
(01.03.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Scott Sanker on Unsplash