Editing Someone Else's Writing

Editing Someone Else’s Writing

I wield the editorial sword,
sparing no words, no awkward phrases,
unflinching in my editorial pruning.
I held no attachment to what
they meant to say, or whether they
particularly liked that word having
read it in the latest New Yorker.
I, who love words just because,
who read dictionaries for fun
during long, cold winter nights,
pressed the delete key with no hesitation.
I wield the editorial sword unflinchingly
on someone else’s work,
but not yet on my own.