I read the poetry 
And the words are great 
I like them exactly as they are. 
 
But society 
Has this way 
Of organizing our words 
So we can understand 
A bit better. 
 
And this person 
Wanted to know 
What I thought,  
So I had to do the old thing 
Teachers had to do to me 
And look for the errors 
In grammar 
Or look for an omitted word. 
 
But I had to say to myself 
That this is only a formality 
Anyone can understand 
When we leave out a word or two 
Or a comma or a period 
If we have even half a brain 
None of that really matters. 
 
What really matters is what 
We have to say 
And this person 
Said it all perfectly 
Whether the apostrophes 
Were in the right place or not 
Didn’t really matter,  
What really mattered 
Was that this person 
Mattered 
And I hope 
They keep writing.
Connie Webb
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-being-asked-to-comment-on-an-eighteen-year-ol/