..............The Red Ink Pen Poem by elysabeth faslund

Subtitle: Heaven Loves You More Than
.............You Will Know.....
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At 17, I walked in your office. Talked.
A poem in hand. Better than Shakespeare!
You, gravelly, kindly said, 'Give it here.'

Didn't need glasses, way back then.
No fright, when you took that 'red ink' pen,
And 'hmmmmmed' as you red-lined out
Every line. 'I like your title, though.' Doubt.

'Write a poem about that. You know, revise.'
At 17, out I walked, cursing skies!
My pride...nearest bar, beer. Didn't speak
To you for six weeks! When the time was bleak,

January cold, I did revise. Wrote a new poem,
Out of pure spite! In...I...stalked, poem
In hand. 'Whatcha got there...this time? '
Poker-faced, said, 'Oh, nuthin. I can't write.'

I sat, you stood. Bounced, grinned! Cheshire Cat!
'Oh, this is...' out your door! 'Dr. Quertermous!
Dr. LeCompte! ' Great! A PANEL of red pens! ! !
'You're in! Sign this! We're gonna win! '

I learned from you, long, long ago.42 years...
Of revision, 'go with the flow', never write about
Things you don't know...

And that Dylan Thomas changed the word
'Blue' 26 times...
And came back to 'blue'.

Your red ink pen is legendary.
Thank you, Dr. Swetman...we laugh
About it, now...