This pen writhes
hisses and spits
poison darts
from the bow of my fingertips.
I wrestle and choke
it down
on an empty
page
the feeling bleeds through
the collected pulp
smearing the white sheet.
Against bone,
the pressure to cave in
begins
at the first period.
Etching the paper
so that complete erasure
is not an option. I strangle
the words, Go On,
in the process.
Artwork credited by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 17th-19th century [Public domain].
