“Maybe you don’t want

to spell blatant with an e?

Maybe this isn’t

what you’re after”

Whoever designed

the word processors of today

must have had good insight

into human nature,

and our shared propensity

to take unkindly to correction.

They could have,

(but didn’t)

designed the program

like a gameshow,

so that every red underline

was paired with a nasally blare.

Survey says;

better luck next time,

ohh I’m sorry

no E’s on the board,

the price is wrong,

next contestant, come

on

down!

so that misspelled descriptions

of the still morning—

early and alone,

prismatic rays of sun,

the balm of cool breeze,

the clear cloudless tonic,

and the soft blue compress

above each square inch…

Instead of being pleasant,

this description (if typed in haste)

would grate along the tunnels

of the inner ear canal

like the high-pitched screech

of nails on a chalkboard,

or the abrupt blast of a fire alarm,

or the din of a bottle return

in need of maintenance.

Yes I believe after all

it is good that our errors

in spelling and punctuation

are not corrected

forcefully. Perhaps

more of life should be

just a suggestion.