reading an erasure poem

Once

You told me,

A good poem

Has spaces

Between

Words

For a reader

To co-create

You fashioned

A love poem

By erasing

Words

From prose

And asked

If I’d refill

The spaces

I told you,

No, because

I knew

I would

Self-edit

And I didn’t

Want to start

Our friendship

With a lie

4-23-21