“I like to live my life the way I type - fast, and with a lot of mistakes.” 
– Anonymous
 
Mistakes have always been made
corrections ever problematic
 
the ancients inscribing in clay
used wet thumb to smooth out
ill-placed < \ x = # or ^
when caught before the sun baked
errors into eternity
 
rune carvers had less room
for error, dictation problematic
punctuated by clang of
cold-chisel on granite
rough drafts became driveways
 
Gutenberg’s supply chain
issues of pigment, parchment
begat proofreaders, editors
insufferable second guessers
preferring function over form
 
modern typewriters allowed
for careful erasure
leaving smudges but proper
verbiage and clearer intent
until the paper ripped
 
Advancing as we have from
pencil-like eraser with brush end
Liquid Paper to spell check
rarified air of autocorrect
cursed vagaries of predictive text
haunting specter of A-I
 
we find it easier than ever to
screw up, not fix it
shift the blame elsewhere
eschewing metaphoric
wet thumb or
first-draft-gravel novels
 
we just hide behind screens
clacking keyboards
emulating the immortal 
Mr. Anonymous
first name, comma, Ronald – 
the only thing of his 
ever erased.

– Mark L. Lucker
© 2024
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B017LALIES