The Manuscript’s Response
This page awaits the words your pen ignites
But vicious strokes slash through its parchment skin
And shred what can’t contain your voice in print
Because the ink keeps bleeding when you write
To cut right through its surface like a knife
Slices into bark to carve initials in.
This page on which you write is not but thin
Let cursive and not cuts explain your life.
So wield your wordsmith weapon like a sword
At enemies you cut up into verse
And write upon a page that’s whole–not ripped,
Not wounding but recording wounding words
With page and pen together do immerse
Yourself so you become this man-u-script.