Writing Surgery
by Ashley Varela
On Wednesday they brought in the first-years.
They sat in the front of the classroom,
White knuckles clutching rough drafts by the fistful.
Making the first cut was the hardest.
Ink in black, and blue, and red
Spilled across the pages—
Slicing adverbs from verbs,
Amputating abstractions,
Plucking clichés from the stomachs of sentences.
When it was over the students threw their pens on the floor,
Fingers trembling above the colorful paper cadavers.
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- | Ashley Varela
Ashley Varela is a graduate of Westmont College, with a focus in English Literature. She has been experimenting with poetry for the past year and enjoys documenting her daily impressions on her blog,
England Can Wait .