A Writer’s Night before Christmas

(written last year, with great apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

Photo by LuAnn Hunt on Unsplash

’Twas the night before Christmas

And writers dug deep

For bon mots to write down

In the hours before sleep

Their unpublished novels

Lay snug in their files

(With visions of agents

Surprised into smiles)

When I with my nightcap

Awoke my dark screen —

This pulled up a to-do list

That felt quite obscene

The clock had struck two

what was wrong with my head?

When the house is this quiet

I can’t go to bed

Let’s edit the characters!

Heighten the themes!

Let’s touch on the marketing —

Viralize memes!

Now dashes! Now hyphens!

Out adverbs — add colon!

Strike comma! Feel stupid

(That image was stolen)

I write ’til my eyes ache,

I write til I nod,