Going with the Flow by Llewellyn McKernan
The sky holds water wherever
it goes. So does the pencil, its moon
and stars. As for me, I need
the rock of the ripple, the pencil
for its dark side, the way it turns the
tide. When it reaches for my thumb
and fingers and they arrive,
housing their history of dumb desire,
its metal pulses like a juicy
quiver creek in the vein of words
that wash the bones and marrow clean.
When cool drops of sweat pop
out of my temple and baptize
the sun-baked page, and my thoughts
and feelings whirl in the pool
where they sink or swim at last,
the pencil is hap-happy, toe-tapping,
punch-pulling the white spaces
until they are mine. Dew-drawn
image or straight shot from heaven, it’s
always my storm and its eye.
Llewellyn McKernan is a poet and teacher who has lived and worked in West Virginia for so long she considers it home. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from Brown University and has been an adjunct English professor at Marshall University, St. Mary’s College, and the University of Arkansas. Published works include six poetry books for adults: Short and Simple Annals, Many Waters, Llewellyn McKernan’s Greatest Hits, Pencil Memory, The Sound of One Tree Falling, and Getting Ready To Travel. Poetry books for children include More Songs of Gladness, Bird Alphabet, This is the Day, and This is the Night.
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