'My Pencil' by Michael Penny

remembers my childhood

and the chubby hand

of uncoordinated draw.

It also recalls

the violence of the sharpener

the blades scraping

wooden flesh away

from the graphite bone

where attempt meets blank.

My pencil has grown up

and learned to keep trying

as we both aim to be clear

in what we’re up to,

so many pages begun

with a sharp start.

All Rights. Michael Penny.

Michael Penny was born in Australia, but his family moved him to Canada at an early age. Since then he has published five books, and previously published in Mono. He now lives between the beach and the forest on an island near Vancouver.