If you’re someone with an oral fixation, you’ll relate to the panic felt when someone asks to borrow a writing utensil. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.
A Well-Chewed Pen
it’s so pleasant
when someone comes over for a visit
you sit and chat, catch up
maybe have a cup of tea
and everything is swell
unless — and until — that terrible question:
“can i borrow a pen?”
oh, why, of course you can
let me just grab one
no reason i should feel this pulse
of anxiety
in my chest
as i reach in the cup, and pull out…
an extremely
well-chewed
writing implement
(because they all are, in here)
and it’s like a loose thread,
and i just know
they’ll pull it
and the frazzled, damaged nature
of all my pens
will provoke further
observation
and they’ll begin to see
that in every corner
in every crevice of my house
something is terribly
terribly
wrong
Produced by Laura Rice
