In Other Words

let’s utilize
our lexicons
you said

i said sure
why not?
i’ve always wondered
about the size
of your vocabulary

you said I needed to be
proofread
so you ran your hands
down my margins
and found
the boundaries
of my text

you said i had
excellent form
but asked me
to show
not tell

so i opened myself for you
like a metaphor
begging to be
stretched

i listened 
as you spoke in brackets
and i responded
in italics
moaning
as you held me open
fingers splayed
across my binding
each syllable
pressed tightly to the next
until grammar gave way
to a stream of consciousness
like those old beat poets

you filled the page
with an exclamation point
in bold font
dotting the I
with your tongue
and
crossing the T
with your fingertips

when it was done
you signed your name
across my chest
in cursive font

i was still admiring your penmanship
when you flipped me over
to work on the second draft

and I thought;
maybe this is what
good writing 
feels like
fast
deep
exciting
and impossible 
to put down

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