It's Still Life

A Taste for Ink

Mum gave me a proper pen
for my 10th birthday.
I wanted a watch.

But that pen drew
promises as I positioned
its nib on paper.

I waited for a Royal Blue
river of conversation
to start,

And I hoped to fill
notebooks as if hanging
paintings on a blank wall.

And Mum shouted up the stairs,
“You’re very quiet;
what are you doing up there?”
And I said,
“Nothing, Mum”,
which was the godawful truth,
and the end of another dream.

for Miz Quickly’s Day 14: “Pen” and Twiglet #6 “Done with Dreams”. The image is from Unsplash, and used without restriction or copyright.