#editing
1 Ring
5 Rings
10 Rings
20 Rings…
I was just sleeping—
walking down the stairs
with heavy feet.
The window cracks
shining light to my face—
tempting me back to bed.
Opposite of a charming kiss
given unto a princess in slumber.
…
But I cant go to sleep
as she doubled the rings on the door.
So I opened the door
and like a dead corpse,
I faded by the light.
“Ahhh.”
At that moment
I remembered what I dreamt of…
“Lying and Semaniusly”
Blurted out
as I realized
I was already blocked?
“That makes no sense!”
I thought to myself.
Why would they do that?
What was the reason for it?
Was it necessary?
All of these questions
and my mind was tied
to the self-deprecating rings
that stopped me
from searching in this dream.
———————————-
To acknowledge
that I left the dream confused
was frustrating.
But cleanly
I came out of the dream—
and had to check
if it really was a dream…
Contumely so—
I left with a new word.
“Semaniusly”?
Jul 28, 2025
Jul 28, 2025 at 9:26 AM UTC
we filmed things
the audience would never forgive us for
then we edited them out
it was the right thing to do
the darkness remained behind the camera
but could still be felt by the viewer
Jul 8, 2025
Jul 8, 2025 at 5:25 PM UTC
My stomach churns
And my fingers ache
My brain screams
My heart shakes
I am deeply sick
In anxious anticipation
Of all the worlds I will write
May 14, 2025
May 14, 2025 at 3:50 AM UTC
I’m always watching myself
watch the world.
Even in love,
I’m already narrating the ending.
I turn silence into stanzas.
Affection into evidence.
Every kiss, a metaphor.
Every absence, a motif.
People think I’m honest.
But really,
I just edit well.
Half of what I write
never happened.
The other half
happened too hard.
I’ve written the same heartbreak
fourteen different ways.
Gave it a new name.
Gave it better dialogue.
Made him softer
so the betrayal feels worse.
I say I’m writing for me,
but I’m always picturing the line
someone might underline
and send to their ex
at 2:03 a.m.
I’ve performed pain
like a dress rehearsal—
highlighted the devastation,
downplayed the shame,
cut the part where I begged
and called it pacing.
There are poems
that made people cry
and replies I never opened.
Because if I read them,
it might mean
I was never alone in it.
And I don’t know
if that would feel better
or worse.
Some nights I write
like I’m searching for proof
that it happened at all.
That he said it.
That I felt it.
That I was the kind of girl
someone could ruin
on purpose.
And if the writing is good enough,
maybe I don’t have to go back.
Maybe I don’t have to forgive him.
Maybe I just have to
survive it beautifully.
So I sharpen the line.
I fix the form.
I leave the ending open.
I publish the ache.
And I tell myself
that counts
as closure.
The betrayal was real.
The good lines were mine.
And maybe closure
doesn’t come in paragraphs—
maybe it’s just a quiet night
I don’t turn into a poem.
Apr 4, 2025
Apr 4, 2025 at 2:06 AM UTC
Oops, I edit
As I go,
I take a step
Then erase it.
It’s counterproductive,
Don’t I know,
But I see the flaw
Then I chase it.
It won’t go away
‘Til the mirror is shattered,
Whether or not
It actually matters.
So I’ll cut and I’ll add
I’ll rewrite, double back
Only hoping that you’ll
Love what’s left
In the end.
Mar 12, 2024
Mar 12, 2024 at 11:26 AM UTC
I liked it
I really did
you write beautifully
it reminded me of that book
but different of course
it was a bestseller because
do you know what I liked
when he came in and she and then he says
haha I had to laugh out loud
not because it was bad but because you once said
no of course, that it really happened doesn't matter and
what do you say
that I now put you down as a Sunday writer
if that's how you feel it's your problem
besides, I haven't read it yet.
Sep 5, 2022
Sep 5, 2022 at 3:54 AM UTC
Our love.
Two armies combined.
The universe and the stars integrated, whose mission is to place us together.
All we both want is to be, at last, next to each other
and feel our own comfort.
Share our constant hearbeat.
How much time should we wait
until our fondness tangles us.
You becoming part of me
and me becoming part of you.
The indestructible bond.
Sep 23, 2021
Sep 23, 2021 at 7:12 PM UTC
Some days
It's hard throwing away
All the things I want to say
Other days
It's super ******* easy
Feb 16, 2021
Feb 16, 2021 at 3:58 PM UTC
For instance
If one is silent
That life needs some editing
If one is out of time
That life needs some editing
If one is within 4 walls
That life needs some editing
If one is in pain
That life needs some editing
If one is in dark mode
That life needs some editing
If one is out of a dream
That life needs some editing
Time up
There is so much more
Outside the box
Breathe easy way
Jan 26, 2021
Jan 26, 2021 at 7:06 PM UTC
*******
Just what science required,
Enticed by bioengineering,
Nucleotides it concerned,
Nucleosides it can fix,
Increasing the methods,
For editing genome,
Errors in the genes it fixes,
Righting some wrongs of mother nature.
Decoded by a wonderful lady,
On a day of helplessness,
Utilizing this tool we are now,
Debted by science and technology,
Neat-handed through practice we become,
Always we shall utilize CRISPR-Cas9 for good.
Few people notice that DNA is the suffix of her name.
Sep 13, 2019
Sep 13, 2019 at 1:19 PM UTC
Everything I say
You whisper condolences
On my soul
On my spirit
On the very essence of who I am
Where I have been
You wait
Like pigeons
For that moment
I feed you the scraps
Tiny morsels
Of my being
Sit on the window sill of your life
Waiting
For patience
Promises unkept
That swept
Up and up
From cranberry filled faucets of life
Where we sat in
Now you
Pull the drain
And Swish swish
Where one you were my voiceless
Power strip
Now you are editing the very frequency of my being
I must now turn up the volume
Shout it loud
Leave this room of our lives
Leave the stereo at 10
Listen to my voice
On the headset
And walk the **** out
Jan 31, 2019
Jan 31, 2019 at 11:38 PM UTC
Monday, March 19, 2018
1:04 AM
I once loved to laugh,
and though I still do,
hidden beneath the ripple of joy
An echoing scar,
A teardrop of pain.
Once So loud and so free,
things hilarious to me,
Were projected for all to hear,
But now I've reflected on my laughter of past.
Of how many times that laugh was a tool,
to cover the pain caused by all of the fools,
The cruel words that were spoken,
and jokes left me broken,
As they all fell so close to home.
Leaving me weary and wary,
And oh so alone,
I comprised a charm to protect me from harm:
"Fools cant hurt me if I laugh along",
I'll steal their power with one of my own,
I'll laugh the loudest,
and i will laugh last.
While all of the while leaving a piece of it there.
Until one day none was left,
An empty and broken and hollowed out laugh,
A cruel joke of it's glorious past.
Aug 11, 2018
Aug 11, 2018 at 12:09 PM UTC
I recently had the great privilege of editing Mike Essig's latest poetry collection, THE BIOLOGY OF STRANGENESS, and I'm honoured to have been entrusted with such fantastic material. Putting together a book like this is every poetry geek's dream.
It's a beautifully textured assortment of poems, earthy yet lyrical, narrated by a voice that's uniquely grained with experience. There are pieces that will make you smile, think, wince; there are pieces that hit you in the gut out of nowhere; there are pieces that welcome you into them like old, worn-in shoes; there are pieces you will remember late some night when you're by yourself, and remembering them will make you feel less alone.
This collection of poetry makes you look at the banal and the everyday afresh; it finds magic and mystery in the mundane, and even Hawaiian shirts are poem-worthy when Mike Essig's writing about them.
The Kindle version is already available through Amazon.
A paperback edition is due out next month, and I can't wait to have a copy of this book on my shelf as well as on my e-reader.
Mike's previous poetry books, Never Forgotten and Huck Finn Is Dead are also available through Amazon and are excellent.
From his author profile on B Star Kitty Press:
"Mike Essig is a veteran of Vietnam and a retired English teacher. He’s also been recruited by the muse as a poet, like he hadn’t already been through enough."
Sample poems, links to sales pages and more info can be found at the B Star Kitty Press website. www(dot)bstarkittypress(dot)com.
Please do support this very talented indie author.
Mar 22, 2016
Mar 22, 2016 at 10:46 AM UTC
I merge clips.
I merge audio and video,
sound and pictures.
That's all I merge;
For fear of disrupting
this natural order
I have constructed.
But tonight I merged
two separate lives I owned
And to my surprise,
things turned out okay.
Nov 2, 2015
Nov 2, 2015 at 9:31 AM UTC
Perched perfectly on tumblr and facebook
For everyone to get a good look
At how I felt a month ago
But why wait so long
Because words need trimming
Stanzas need perfecting
Lines need to find their proper place
And that takes time
And in my mind
A thirty day cycle will suffice
Aug 18, 2015
Aug 18, 2015 at 7:38 PM UTC
I love editing.
Have I said that yet?
I love practically hearing
The scenes
And the words
That zip
Through my mind
Like arrows
From the bow
Of an Indian.
I love feeling like I am doing something.
I love editing, have I said that yet?
Well, I'm saying it again.
Stories, novels, poems...
I love it all.
Mar 28, 2015
Mar 28, 2015 at 9:12 AM UTC
When the wind blows
the heart goes
wild, though you're now known
for resolution
Waving, you wave to meet me
planted feet, we work on
and never will the will divide, subside or enervate
knowing all the drive of future forward
blast the past and liberate
the little pieces to combine
to gain one whole life once shattered
we come to meeting
stand to celebrate
When will this wind stop beating at the windows?
When they ask, tell them straight and lively, it won't.
Sep 20, 2014
Sep 20, 2014 at 6:24 PM UTC
Writing is an Art
so many people say
Selection of the words
arranged in such a way.
These words are there for all
not just for the select few
and we all have a choice
to arrange them as we do.
It's not a thing to rush
but don't take to much time,
to start just write them down
before they leave your mind.
Then we can take some time
now they are down on paper
To edit as we wish
which can also be a caper.
So many words we chose
as we move our words our way
but we find to smooth it out
that we're throwing most away.
We want our characters
to have unique temperaments.
so that when the story is read out
the audience cements.
If we can't get that bond
with our writing it may taper
but we can play around at will
as long as it's put down on paper.
Aug 30, 2014
Aug 30, 2014 at 8:45 AM UTC
Mnimalists uproot everything,
Aiding natural entropy.
Poets can do likewise.
Omit redundancy;
Scorn verbosity,
Make words work
Hard.
Articles shunned,
Prepositions abhorred;
Conjunctions - need none.
Edit,
For our sake.
Snip,
Fit words together.
Make words work
Harder.
Aug 1, 2014
Aug 1, 2014 at 12:59 PM UTC