02.10.04 - 5:32 p.m.

you consistently gave me Cs on my essays,
writing notes in the margins that
berated me for run-on sentences (still a weakness),
obviousness (a big, red DUH!) and comma splices
that were usually misreadings, corrected later
when i marched myself up to your desk and pointed
out the small dot above the comma that turned it into
my favorite mark of punctuation. you
singlehandedly elimated the phrases 'i think'
and 'in conclusion' from my written work
and i thought myself a terrible writer until my first
report card came and you had given me an A.
i finally got the joke, and years later you would
see my father-in-law at a seminar on your
famous technique and tell him i was the best writer
you ever had. stop flattering me, jane schaffer;
i still think youre totally full of shit.