one · i · 1

the first number you ever needed. counted with a finger before you knew it had a name. a single thing is rarely only one — there is the thing, and the noticing of the thing, and already you are at two.

the labyrinth has exactly one of certain things: one well, one lighthouse, one room that turns the lights off when you leave it. the rest repeat themselves in small variations until you forget which copy you are inside of.

one is the loneliest only in arithmetic. in geometry it is the centre, and the centre is busy. compare with two · solitude · mirror.