The Editor to Her Manuscript

I walk up to you, I walk away

You remain a tangle, a menace, a mystery

One day I put out a hand to you

One day I look you over, begin to measure you

Your snarl quiets. I hear a small purr.

My fear is only fear. I feel your heart’s rhythm beat

I read your heads, skim through your pages

I jump into the middle of your exclamations

Together we make sweet sentences

Smooth your rough phrases, flaunt the bold truth you were holding

I divide your dozens of thousands

Into chapters and days. You give me a page. One more

Soon we are a regular couple

Hourly we wrestle, dance, word by word. Not afraid now

All at once we don’t need each other

We’ve each given all that we could. I send you away

I think I might still linger in you

My fingerprints lightly dusting the space where you breathe

And you will always remain with me

Your quirky turns, your strange trivia, your bright brave heart