Inner Editor

by Fred Aiken

I will sometimes misspell words to see if my subconscious is paying attention,

though it usually lags, significantly,

until the third or fourth read-through,

at which point it’s too late, I can’t take it back, whatever it was that I said or wrote,

I have to live with the fact that my inner editorial spirit hates me and wants to see me fail,

or at least it’s getting back at me for not feeding it enough Goldfish growing up