Peer Editing
I can tell he likes her
writing. Every time
we partner up
to peer edit each other’s work
he slides to where she sits,
offering his help.
She smiles back,
swaps papers with him,
secretly watches
his pen do nothing
as he reads, her eyes
lighting up when he smiles
at something clever he thinks
she has written.
He never says anything
negative, just that he likes her
ideas. So when I get
all the papers, I read hers
first, my pen lashing
at the page like a whip,
leaving it smarting
with wounds.
So he likes you,
I say. But I don’t
like how he tells you.
From English Journal, November 2005
I can tell he likes her
writing. Every time
we partner up
to peer edit each other’s work
he slides to where she sits,
offering his help.
She smiles back,
swaps papers with him,
secretly watches
his pen do nothing
as he reads, her eyes
lighting up when he smiles
at something clever he thinks
she has written.
He never says anything
negative, just that he likes her
ideas. So when I get
all the papers, I read hers
first, my pen lashing
at the page like a whip,
leaving it smarting
with wounds.
So he likes you,
I say. But I don’t
like how he tells you.
From English Journal, November 2005