New Poem by Greg Bell

Eyewear is pleased to offer a new poem by Canadian poet Greg Bell this last day of April.  He lives in Kingston, Ontario, with his family.  His work appears most recently in a chapbook from Cactus Press, Toronto, Better Locks and Daylight.  Here he is with one of his sons, Graydon.

Pencils

 

Drawn in by the long body and lean lines;

the bejewelled ferrule crimped into place,

willowy hips, slim fit and grooved glide, 

 

as the fingers wrap around its lacquered slats,

hike-up the hem with each slow grind,

and the chaff, unclasped, spirals to the ground.

 

I have made mistakes.

But you, flipped over, stiletto tip

wagging in the dusky air, and a distant

 

word scumbles, then a sentence annulled,

until, finally, under the rhythmic rub

of that supple, pink nub, whole histories

 

crumble, swept away with a wave.

Hard-cored, redeemed, and indelible --

I’ve come to find we’re not lead at all.