Putting Pen To Paper

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

I Could Give It A Title But It Would Give It Away

posted by PeggySueO at 7/18/2006 10:31:00 PM

I miss the old days, the days when people cherished me. There were times when I would glide along twisting, turning. Sometimes I would lift into the air and land again at a precise location emphasizing the obvious. How important I felt when my movements would express a wide range of emotions and opinions. I had the power to change people’s lives, to make them smile, cry, laugh, or turn red with anger. I wasn’t just some cheap thing to be tossed by the wayside.

People today like to pretend they don’t need me, but always they come looking for me to help them with something in their lives. They should be careful though because I can still cause good and bad to happen. I can give the gift of love or bring on financial doom. My movements can still mesmerize those who are willing to watch as I dance. My lines are more intoxicating than the clicking of my new age replacement. I don’t require power and electricity from a plug, as it flows through me with the touch of a hand. I would like to think that I will always have a purpose, but the day is coming when I will do nothing more than sit around and dry up like a withered leaf falling from its tree branch as winter approaches. No longer will people need me to tell the world who they are, a finger print or retinal scan will be all that is required.

Yet some still hold me gently and stroke me across the page like a parent would stroke the head of their child as they sleep. I suspect that there will always be those who keep me hidden around to dance again another day, those who will still allow my lifeblood to flow from me as I portray their ideas to the world. There will, I suppose, always be those who need the feel of something solid in their hand, something to tap gently on the table or chew on as they struggle to convey all that is within them. These are the people I live for, the ones who will give me a transfusion as my insides fade away to nothingness on the paper, the ones who need me as much as I need them.
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click to post a comment or read comments from: Blogger Ruth, Blogger Ruth, Blogger Fred MacKenzie, Blogger PeggySueO, Blogger Peter,

5 Comments:

  • Peggy,you never cease to amaze me. I knew that you had written poetry, but this is a complete surprise. Heck, I was surprised just to see your name on something here since you continue to deny your talent to all who know you.

    This is wonderful! You had me hooked right from the beginning trying to figure out who/what was talking, and, I have to admit I hadn't even come close until you revealed the "stroke me across the page" bit. I'm not sure I even know now exactly which type of writing instrument you were describing; although, I'd like to think of it as a beautiful feather quill pen.

    I did have a little trouble with the sentence "I suspect that there will always be those who keep me hidden around to dance again another day". I'm not sure what you are indicting here. Do you just mean "tucked away", or are you implying something which needs to be hidden because of it's value (such as a rare, historically important writing instrument)? ... i.e., does the "hidden" mean they are embarrassed because they still own one, or does it imply the "value" described above?

    Thanks for sharing this piece with us.

    By Blogger Ruth, at 7/19/2006 03:43:00 AM  

  • Sorry, that "indicating" in the last paragraph, not indicting.

    By Blogger Ruth, at 7/19/2006 03:53:00 AM  

  • Wow peg, I like that. I was trying to figure it out too. After the first paragraph I thought you were talking about the flag, and at one point I thought you were talking about the Bible. It took me two readings and reading mom's comment before I understood. So the idea is that pens are becoming obsolete to modern technologies. Who would have thought a piece about a pen could be so vivid and enticing. Excellent!

    By Blogger Fred MacKenzie, at 7/19/2006 03:50:00 PM  

  • Thanks...I have to admit that I like it myself and was very surprised to even write it. I was just sitting around bored at work as usual staring at some pens on my desk when the thoughts just started coming into my head.

    As for the word hidden, I think that I was probably thinking more that someone would have it hidden away as if embarassed to still have one in an advanced technilogical age of the future.

    By Blogger PeggySueO, at 7/19/2006 10:16:00 PM  

  • Well -- I'm dense -- I thought I was reading the lament of a woman whose husband just ran of with someone 25 years younger -- and it wasn't making any sense!!! There's really not that much difference...

    great little lament.

    By Blogger Peter, at 7/19/2006 10:24:00 PM  

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