Leaving room for errors,

Many men advise,

When you lack life experience,

May come across as wise.

Tiny errors tiptoe in

Unnoticed, like a mouse,

And soon they’ll be asleep

On every sofa in your house.

They’ll skitter through the words of every manuscript you write,

They’ll patter through your musings in the middle of the night.

They’ll burrow in your brainmeats and across your bedroom floor,

They’ll skirt and scratch and scamper, then they’ll slip beneath the door.

They’ll cover every cushion of the couches that they find,

They’ll hardly give a signal but they’ll shred your piece of mind,

And every scrap of focus that you’ve worked so hard to feel,

Will find itself in storage for a little error’s meal.

Your self-esteem will shatter as you shoo away the pests

Your inner critic caterwauls as uninvited guests

Slide in through every crevice to lay claim upon the stakes

A younger you decided to reserve for your mistakes.