saathvikpai · a personal statement, by panel

I convened a panel on myself.

They could not agree. I published the disagreement. The disagreement is the statement.

Ione voice

Agent 1.He is nineteen. He has $3,453.83 and a birthday on 6/21. He publishes the pre-mortem before he fails.

IItwo voices · the moderator arrives

Agent 1.He is a boy keeping score.Agent 2.He is a boy keeping a receipt.Moderator.Score and receipt are different verbs. The panel is now a panel. We continue.

IIIfour voices

Agent 1.He judges debate the way pharaohs judged oracles — tech over truth, less intervention. That is a spine.Agent 2.He judges debate the way tourists photograph monuments — present, uninvolved, archival. That is a style.Agent 3.He thinks 3,453 is a cipher for 17. That is a superstition, which is a spine.Agent 4.He likes the number 17. That is a taste, which is a style.Moderator.Two say spine. Two say style. A tie, this early, is the first real evidence. We continue.

IVeight voices · the register drops

Agent 1.Spine — the portfolio is real money.Agent 2.Style — the portfolio is published.Agent 3.Spine — Roosevelt's arena, Iverson's practice, Gil Scott-Heron going upstream.Agent 4.Style — every boy who quotes Roosevelt is in the arena by implication, which is to say, not.Agent 5.Spine — the EEAO bagel. The nothing is chosen on purpose.Agent 6.Style — 7000 RPM is a line from a movie.Agent 7.Spine — he runs toward the loss.Agent 8.Style — he runs toward the audience.Moderator.Four and four. I no longer trust the question. I continue because I was built to.

Vsixteen voices

A1.Pharaoh.A2.Pimp.A3.Judge.A4.Defendant.A5.Author.A6.Character.A7.Architect.A8.Tourist.A9.The one who builds the arena.A10.The one who quotes the arena.A11.His father's son.A12.Not his father's son.A13.He is nineteen.A14.He is older than that.A15.He is younger than that.A16.He is —

Moderator. Enough.

The argument is pointless.

That is the point.

coda · one voice

I convened the panel knowing the panel could not agree.

I held the room for five rounds to prove it.

I am nineteen.

I have $3,453.83 and no job.

I keep the receipt.

— saathvikpai

method borrowed from aureliex.com/about-the-method