She spoke of word count
as if more is better
and better more.
I could see pages mount,
water getting wetter
per her keeping score.
-------
A thousand today,
repeat tomorrow,
then presto, a book
with not much to say
but plenty borrowed
and her signature hook.
-------
Happy ending of course,
a saccharine river
reaching at last the sea
by word count force
accrued to deliver
mellifluous mediocrity.
-------
Listen to me judge
and not so subtly malign
another's way of work
as if in hand a grudge
that shows the sour sign
of a pseudoliterary jerk.