we kill those people.
we tell them
'oh charlie...'
'this is awful.'
'so lame.'
'so cheesy.'

we patronise them.
we embarrass them.
we kill them.
unless
their poetry is rounded
at the edges.

smoothed over
thought over
edited
workshopped
touched up.

"we want to see
your best self"

fuck that.

give me your first draft.
give me the spontaneous.
initial vomit.
show me your edges.
show me your
fucking guts.

the real artists
hide.
even they can see
we kill those people.