the ballpoint pen in prose form

It’s the latest arrival. It was found in a gift packet

from my health care provider along with unnecessary information

on where I should go and what I should do before I go, and

who I should see when I get there.

the ballpoint pen is substantial in its heft, twin-tone in color

incorporating a twist-turn of the barrel to expose the tip.

I like doing that. It’s sensational. sometimes I’ll just pick it up

for no reason other than to simply twist and twist back and twist

again before the final twist finds the ballpoint retracted.

I haven’t yet used the pen to write something or even test it

to see if the ballpoint functions. I have coffee mugs filled with

ballpoint pens, and cocktail glasses and drawer’s full.

In the mid 60’s, a TIME magazine cover

graphically displayed an American army officer, an “advisor”

to the South Vietnamese military, who'd been shot dead at a time

when an American combat death in Viet Nam was a rare occurrence.

clipped to his breast pocket was a “Paper Mate” ballpoint pen.

an art school friend quipped: “I bet his pen still works”.

that elementary juxtaposition between life and death, between usefulness

and uselessness was instructive.

as it lays upon the table, this latest arrival is less historically significant

as ballpoint pens go, although its place in the canon of historic events

has yet to be written.

2/15/24