The problem with having someone
edit your writing, particularly
if you are a poet, is that
the moment they go beyond simple
punctuation or obvious grammar
they are writing their own poem
and to some lesser or greater extent
the poem you gave them no longer exists.
There may be something to be said
for allowing that, for when they
return their poem and you edit
their edits, you rewrite it again
and it is yours once more.
But it is better to read it to them
for then their rewrite is transient
and fades as you walk from the room.