I have been editing students’ essays and stories today—

switching out a word,
a phrase,
sometimes an entire sentence.

Cutting repetition
while still honoring
the rhythm of the words.

Searching for themes,
motifs,
tropes
that cast light across the page.

Delighting when I stumble upon
an apt metaphor,
a succinctly stated feeling,
a burst of action verbs
that make me want to run,
dance,
and play.

And always I am pleased
to find a keenly observed detail—
one that serves as symbol,
breaking the writing wide open.

Then the words burst forth
like a meadowlark,
serenading the reader
from the page.