Writing Poetry with a Pencil
Brooks Bradbury

I once wrote a poem
with a pencil
right on a white paper sheet
until a hand-me-down
Remington portable
made college life complete

clacking away on metal keys
that flew up square and neat
as a typed-out poem in parallel lines
appeared on my white paper sheet

a spool of black and red cloth ribbon
clicked along through a metal notch
it was as close as I had ever come
to the works of a fine Swiss watch

though clacking away faster and faster
‘til I over-clacked a little
it was at last too damned fast
and the keys got jammed in the middle

into the late pre-historic,
pre-techno age
things were still low-tech
and eclectic
when along came a thing
that became all the rage
high-tech and self-correctic
it was the best you could find
at last! the great one of a kind
IBM Selectric!

with its fancy silver alphabet ball
it turned every which way but loose
and my poem spilled out
on the paper sheet
my office, at last complete

alas now there was no excuse
I could put the back-button into use
it would truly save the day
mistakes were covered in little white tape
and I could keep typing away

then at the dawn of our digital throes
beyond palm pilot and stylus woes
behold the blackberry had finally come
soon we were addicted to typing
with each carpal sore thumb
and it now really grates
when my hip ‘ghost’ vibrates
I think I’m still crackberry numb

so I typed out my poems
then on the little white screen
but now I could email my work
if you know what I mean
honestly I could just scream

it didn’t stop there
iPhones and tablets
have us all on the run
the digital arms race
had long since begun
sometimes I ponder
what progress has brung
a poet with an S4 Galaxy Samsung?

my monthly cell plan continues to rise
and my poetry production to taper
it’s time to go back
to writing each poem
with a pencil
right on a white sheet of paper

© Copyright 2014 Brooks Bradbury, BrooksLooks