You corrected my sentence
(because it needed correcting)
and I kept thinking about it
for most of the evening.
I couldn’t focus on the show
or the commentary
or the subsequent drinks
and my dancing was perfunctory
at best.

I kept going over it
in my head
considering the words I’d used
and the words you suggested
because, of course,
they were better.
You had automagically improved my joke
and it had seemed so effortless.
I didn’t thank you
at the time.

So thank you
for showing me just how to make my work better
at just the moment I needed it.
Thank you
for giving me the means
to become better.
Thank you
so very
very much
but do it again
at your mortal peril.