the dado rail

a strip of oak run around the walls at three feet four. its original work was to keep chair-backs from bruising the plaster. these days nothing leans against it; it is a habit the building hasn't bothered to put down.

the upper colour is paler, the lower darker, the way a thought is paler at the top than at the bottom. small hands have run along it from vestibule to stair for a hundred years, leaving a fine path of oils that the wood has darkened toward in gratitude.

field-note · trail your fingers along it as you pass. you will think of someone you have not thought of in a year.

it sits above the wainscot, below the picture rail, and parallel to the skirting.