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10 American Pencils
by Bruce W Niedt
I.
10 American pencils
stand at attention
pointedly
in regimented box
standard-issue yellow
insignia #2
not too hard
not too soft
what was once lead
now leader
graphite souls
ready to write history
indisputable
unerring
or even if erring
rubbed out by
pink rubber bottoms
no tracks
no trace
unindictable
II.
10 American pencils
shaved and planed
from finest virgin pine
tempting us to test
their versatility
to caress between
thumb and forefinger
and scribble to bliss
test-drive down
ruled lanes of blue
or tear across
the open page
(closed-circuit track
do not attempt)
no matter
the proof is in the trail
all work behind them
all thoughts that push
them ahead
III.
10 American pencils
go off to war
no foreign stylus will sully
these clean white sheets
no-sirree-bob
fire them off
from dense-pack barrels
propaganda written
where they land
javelins to pierce
the hearts and minds
of literary infidels
let the enemy break resolve
hands behind heads
keep them behind
a stockade of pencils
let them despair
of the pointed tops
read the handwriting
on the yellow walls
04/06/2003 Author's Note: A bit of a departure for me - inspired by a "found title" (a label on a package of pencils - I had no idea why they were called "American pencils" so imagined....)
Posted on 04/06/2003
Copyright © 2025 Bruce W Niedt
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 04/08/03 at 01:53 AM Quite original, imaginative. Never read a poem about pencils before...good one! |
| Posted by Rusty C Arquette on 04/08/03 at 11:31 AM Proud patriotic poetic pencils; who would'a thunk? - Interesting exercise in wordplay - Cool! - RCat |
| Posted by Anne Engelen on 04/09/03 at 04:01 PM Sublime writing! |
| Posted by Rommel Cruz on 04/25/03 at 05:13 PM oi i like this a lot. and im not even patriotic (i aint amercian). :p |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 09/19/06 at 04:19 AM Very creative - I like the three explorations of these 10 pencils. Thank you! |
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