standing at its threshold at the end of a long hallway looking inside it appeared an ascetics bed
a sharp rectangle standing on a bare oakslat floor
the floor shone with an inner honeylight when struck by sunlight through
the window
handworked with polish buffed with a cottoncloth
rolled dust never to gather in the room
the bed was bound in fresh-cleaned sheets laid over with a clean woven blanket
at its head a hard pillow
beside it stood a boxy chest
under the window a steamer trunk
there were no bedstands or lamps
overhead was a common lighting fixture
blinds hung in the window
there were no curtains
there were no adornments hanging on the walls or a crucifix a rood
bearing a twist of dried palm
if it wasnt for the bed in it the room would have begged for one and for an
occupant to fill it with some kind of life
he saw to it his life happened outside the bed room
it was strictly a separate place to sleep to be unoccupied
when he retired he left his occupations outside it and slept like an
untroubled babe
the room was imbued with sleep
he fixed it that way within four short years
they probably could have been less if one other occupation didnt enter
sex
the room had to share
if it hadnt perhaps it could have been imbued with sleep in two
years
appearing an ascetic and being one were cries far apart
he was inconvertible
he hadnt the dire imagination to imagine a zealous ascetic clutching a dangling
knout then lashing himself chasing from his body and mind his animalistic
lusts unholy distractions or intrusions
and being inconvertible
he heard the ghosts who must have been very
old who had forgotten a filled bathtub amplified sound and as he laid in it his ears underwater their
hesitant footsteps sounded over the beating of his heart
they sounded loud enough that he opened his eyes again and again to see
if they werent standing over him curiously looking trying to decipher his quiet
recline nearly submersed
or perhaps they were overt and simply wanted their presence acknowledged
otherwise they were invisible to him
the best he managed was that he sensed their presence
later it occurred to him that if they were older ghosts they were probably ignorant of the tub in the house
he understood that outdoors there once was a trough fed by a handpump
where nearby a firepit was stoked a cauldron hung above it was filled with
water and when heated it could be swung on an iron arm over the trough and
dumped
the older ghosts may never have bathed in the house
a trough indoors in a separate room would be curious
so maybe he shared the house with ghosts who were like cats
except for their heavy feet
sometimes they breathed heavy
like excited children hiding playing a game of hide and seek
it also seemed that he and they was partial to beeswax candles
when distilling the occupations from his mind to retire to bed he enjoyed
painting the dark livingroom or sitting room walls with their flickering butterlight
a glass of whisky
visualising
sighed
usually then he and the ghosts retired
their détente deliberated
Monday afternoon, 29 8.
16
0940, Day-between-Two-Ts, 31 8.
16
