edits
you’ve already written the poem
but now you have to fix it
the words are there
but they’re awkward
as first dance
the clompy shoes
the skinny legs
the skirt borrowed from
the recalcitrant
older sister
you’ve already written the poem
but everything is in
the wrong order
love comes after marriage
when it’s too late
and you only learn
the use of beauty
once you’ve
lost it
you’ve already written the poem
but in spite of all your efforts
you’ve never really gotten along
it finds you tyrannical and controlling
thinks you don’t understand
the way it wants to flow
and that you’ve never really
loved it which may
be true
you’ve already written the poem
and you wrote it in ink
so you can’t erase
your scratch outs
don’t really conceal
the mistakes beneath them
and there’s no more blank paper
so the only thing you
can really do with it is
revise
revise
revise
© Doritt Carroll 2014
Doritt Carroll is (unfortunately) a lawyer and (fortunately) the mother of two daughters. A native of Washington, DC, she received her undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University. Her collection In Caves was published in 2010 by Brickhouse Books. Her book GLTTL STP was published in 2013 by Brickhouse Books, and the title poem was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have appeared in Coal City Review, Poet Lore, Nimrod, Slipstream, Rattle, Plainsongs, Poetry Depth Quarterly, Maryland Poetry Review, Explorations, Negative Capability, Poet’s Canvas, Illuminations, The Baltimore Review, Journal of Formal Poetry, Harlequin Creature, Lummox and Commonthought Magazine. Her poem “motherlove” appeared in the Fuck Poems anthology by Lavender Ink.
