In praise of old technology.


Stub

I keep it behind my ear
Like an old-fashioned bookie,
Ready to lick into action
When the odds stack up.

The I-generation scoff
When they see my point,
Mock my graphite cursor
As it divines over paper.

But I don't see a mere
Pencil, flaking like a shuttered
Seaside town in winter,
Devoid of blatant, buzzing bling.

I see a religious relic:
A splinter from the Tree
Of the Knowledge
Of Good and Evil,
A chip from the Ark,
A piece of the Cross.

My charismatic charm has H
Stamped on its body;
H is for Hope as in
A prisoner scratching
A five-bar gate of days
To freedom.
H is for Help as in
A castaway scribbling
A message on a palm
Leaf for the next tide.
H is for Humour as in
The writing on the wall -

'I have often felt
That public graffiti
Is never pretti
Especially when it's misspelt'.


When was the last time
You saw an I-phone do that?








Poetry by Christopher Fernie The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 709 times
Written on 2016-09-30 at 13:53

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Jamsbo Rockda The PoetBay support member heart!
You reminded me of the bookies at the race tracks. Those were the days. Behind your ear and then wetting the tip before you write. It's all gone now. Maybe we should become Amish. Have you heard the joke about the Amish IT tech? I enjoyed this bit of nostalgia.
2016-10-06



The I generation? We're called that now?
2016-10-01


Kathy Lockhart
We must stand up for the graphics of the internal graphic holding P! (I had to research the H because I haven't seen H on a pencil in the USA. I am now enlightened or at least until I forget. :)

As a matter of fact, just where are all the pencils in the US?

Ok now you have me concerned. Is there some sort of pencil conspiracy going on? Those Techno Techies Tarantulas have taken our tools of traditional trade into their cyber webs!!! YIKES!!!

Sorry, your poetry is just so evocative of my most hidden fears.

(as usual Chris, you are very conscientious, clever, and creative poet!) shyly, kathy
2016-09-30