The First Draft

You were always a little rough around the edges
but frankly, I liked you better as a rough draft
I may not know much now, and this might sound strange
coming from a girl who is a part of your past
But this final version of you seems so set in stone
so firm and structured, no room to bend or grow

I liked your loose pages, paperclips were fine
Now you’re some rigid book with a hard cover spine
you really could have done without the auto-save
you could have crashed a million times
and would recover just the same
But you’ve rewritten yourself and I feel like I’m to blame.

I know I gave you writer’s block, but you didn’t have to change
J… I’ve loved you anyway…
one perfect chapter a day.

But time went by and now you’re short and paraphrased,
all details edited, the loving parts erased
You’ve forgotten who you are and turned into someone else
you show the world a fake edition;
The real you
sits on the shelf

I’m trying to free you but it’s so hard to read you
when the pages I once knew
are no longer see-through
now you’re just opaque
and I can only hope that you find your first draft
before it’s too late

You were beautiful when you were unabridged
but you cut out the best parts
and i don’t like you revised.

I don’t care how many people try to read you
or how many feel special holding limited editions
We both know that I was the only one
to have the original, without the revisions
a signed copy of your love, the ink still wet on my heart
we were a match in your first manuscript
so till death do we part

I’m sorry that I hurt you; we were writing history
But you’re still a part of me
although you’re now a mystery
You were my favorite story
and I was yours once upon a time
Now I’m afraid to read your epilogue, just one lonely line:

“She was, but now she isn’t and no one else will ever be.”
and I just can’t help thinking
that woman
was me.

This entry was posted in Poetry.

6 comments

  1. Cali says:

    I really like this one Starr
    you make me want to try and write
    but I know I wouldn’t be as good at this
    but that’s ok bc I know you are super bright!

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