If I were a writer

If I were a writer I'd speak a new suburb into being and fill it with pieces of people I know stitched with pieces of people I don't.

I'd build entire houses and furnish whole rooms, one word at a time.

I'd move through time to sketch each person's past, then forward to their future. And then I'd rewrite both, again and again, till none of it could ever have happened any other way.

If I were a writer I'd make some people for you to love, and some for you to judge, and some you'd have to lose along the way. I'd make people who change and people who want to, but can't.

I'd put them together and follow them round; I'd give them all words and after a while, I'd listen to them speak.

If I were a writer I'd make you think one thing, and then something else, and I'd make you believe my whispers were your thoughts.

If I were a writer I'd deceive you then show you the truth. I'd make you listen and make you see and make you feel. If I didn't, my writing wouldn't be worth reading.