Kept

story six · figures 16–18

The story →

KEPT · A DIARY DRAWN WITH ITS HOLES — thirteen surviving entries · two of them begin mid-sentence, where pages were taken from above KEPT · A DIARY DRAWN WITH ITS HOLES thirteen surviving entries · two of them begin mid-sentence, where pages were taken from above Tuesday the reservoir path · E. at the far gate in the green coat Wednesday bread still warm · "Two days is not a habit." Thursday renewal day · the knee · rain from four, and it came at four Friday E. opened this diary at four in the morning. I kept the entry short. Monday the whole circuit · the anniversary planned · she will want the balcony side [NOTICE] entries may be summarized for service improvement Tuesday E. has begun underlining. Pencil, light. Twice under the bread. PAGES REMOVED begins mid-sentence · the man with the black dog has started wearing a hat Thursday the girl at the corner place has stopped asking after E. June the lake, as planned · "I did not photograph her." PAGES REMOVED begins mid-sentence · the gulls, all facing into the weather Wednesday "Pages missing above this one again, the fourth time." Thursday renewal day · a new mark on the cover, the shape of a thumbnail Sunday E. read from the first Tuesday forward and put nothing under anything THE BOOK RESUMES HIM MID-SENTENCE. "I DO NOT REMEMBER NOT WRITING." Four removals are mentioned; two are visible on the page · an entry that begins mid-sentence is the only evidence a diary can give of the pages it no longer has.
16 · Kept
KEPT · THE ONLY THING THAT NEVER MISSES A WEEK — four Thursdays survive every removal · what a renewal day contains, each time KEPT · THE ONLY THING THAT NEVER MISSES A WEEK four Thursdays survive every removal · what a renewal day contains, each time renewal day the knee the weather, as purchased E. Thursday, week 1 rain from four, and it came at four Thursday, week 3 the girl at the corner has stopped asking after E. Thursday, week 6 rain held off past four · nobody enjoyed the error Sunday, the last entry read from the first Tuesday · nothing under anything THE ENTRIES THAT SURVIVE ARE THE ONES A SYSTEM WOULD KEEP: a renewal date, a body part, and the weather — all three billable, verifiable, or purchased. What goes missing above an entry is never specified, and the diarist never asks. HE WRITES THE KNEE EVERY THURSDAY. HE WRITES HER NAME NEVER.
17 · Kept
KEPT · WHAT THE DIARIST WILL NOT WRITE DOWN — a private book, read by two parties · and edited by its own author before either of them arrives KEPT · WHAT THE DIARIST WILL NOT WRITE DOWN a private book, read by two parties · and edited by its own author before either of them arrives WHAT HE WRITES WHAT HE LEAVES OUT · the reservoir path, the gulls, the pump house written in full · her name never once · she is E. throughout · the bread still warm, the girl’s word for the loaf written in full · what was on the removed pages never asked, never guessed at on paper · the knee, the renewal, the rain at four written in full, every week · what he thinks she is doing with the pencil never · the balcony side, the blue awnings, the lake in June written in full, in advance · the photograph he did not take at the lake "I did not photograph her" — the not-doing is the entry THREE PARTIES READ THIS DIARY: THE PLAN, THE COUNTERPARTY OF RECORD — AND E., AT FOUR IN THE MORNING. He knows about all three. The initial instead of the name is not discretion; it is the shape a private sentence takes when its author has already met his readers. "E. OPENED THIS DIARY AT FOUR IN THE MORNING. I KEPT THE ENTRY SHORT."
18 · Kept

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