Editors. (Dedicated to Katie Kokal.)

 

 

In the hush of the creator's solitary night,
A tale blooms, bathed in imagination's light.
Unseen world to paper bound, with words unfettered, free,
Born of a mind, unhinged yet tethered, in sublime soliloquy.

Enter now the editor, with sharpened eye and keen,
Bathing in red, the woven dream, cutting through the scene.
Defaced, the crafted word falls prey to unforgiving knife,
In the name of clarity, it's purged, such is the writer's strife.

Love and loathing intertwine, a tango of the mind,
A creator craves approval, yet to criticism, often blind.
A custodian of language, the editor stands tall,
A necessary torment, the bitterest gall.

Each alteration, each correction, a wound so raw and deep,
Yet in their wake, arises a tale more worthy of the keep.
The editor, like a smith, in the furnace of revision,
Tempering the narrative, with unflinching precision.

To hate is easy, as love’s effaced by indelible ink,
Yet underneath this struggle, a deeper bond, we think.
For both are sculptors of the tale, through tumult and tranquility,
The writer spins the yarn, the editor shapes reality.

So, here’s to the symbiotic dance, entwined in love and hate,
To the writer, the dreamer, and the editor, the slate.
For stories, like diamonds, are formed under pressure's reign,
From chaos comes the masterpiece, from struggle, comes the gain.

In the love and hate that intertwine, a truth rings pure and clear,
Without each other's guiding hand, the story disappears.
Writer and editor, in the dance of creation forever twirled,
In concert, they bring forth new worlds, and thus, they shape the world.