Remember pen and paper?

Pen & Paper

Pen & Paper

Both my gizmos, as she calls them,
iPad and my precious iPhone,
are updating and recharging,
unavailable for writing,
FaceBooking, emailing, texting,
or for playing on-line Scrabble.

I have looked and found a grey pen
that writes even held upside-down.
Only one lined pad for writing
was discovered after searching
through the cabinets, closets, shelving.
When did I last try to scribble

words on paper? I lie back, then
face empty space above the line–
fingers, thumbs, want to be typing…
Will the gizmos still be waiting
when these words I will be adding
to the electronic babble?

– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, September 27, 2014

 

This entry was posted in Life, Poetry, Writing and tagged , , , , , by Gordon C. Stewart. Bookmark the permalink.

About Gordon C. Stewart

I've always liked quiet. And, like most people, I've experienced the world's madness. "Be Still! Departure from Collective Madness" (Wipf and Stock Publishers, Jan. 2017) distills 47 years of experiencing stillness and madness as a campus minister and Presbyterian pastor (IL, WI, NY, OH, and MN), poverty criminal law firm executive director, and social commentator. Our dog Barclay reminds me to calm down and be much more still than I would be without him.

10 thoughts on “Remember pen and paper?

  1. Pingback: Writing In Public #2 – kimberlyjaneperlowski

  2. Pingback: Defeating Blank Pages | Ryagas.me

  3. 😉 Well at this time I am at St. Mary’s Episcopal, E. Lancaster & Louella Ave. in Wayne. We just have a new Rector, Father Joseph Smith. He started when I was in England.
    There is nothing funny about the reason I must say “at this time.” Far too long a story, and I will assume I will still be at St. Mary’s when I croak. If I change, I’ll let you know.

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  4. And that is, broadly speaking, why my house is completely jammed with stuff. I can only guess, but I must have more than 200 pens in various colors and styles; 25 pencils, most mechanical; every little pad of paper ever sent me by a cause or charity; a 4 inch stack of “one-side-used” paper; almost a ream of typing paper; and two desk drawers full of stationery and note cards, about half from causes or charities; and a couple or a few blank- page booklets. To this, add more typing paper and various types of paper suitable for printing out photographs belonging to BJ.
    Last year’s pack rat also ran. 😁.

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      • Quite a few, I’m afraid. Especially the ones I bought that have glitter in the gel ink — they only work if you start using them right away, and they write only a few pages before becoming completely clogged. 😒.
        I am still using an ordinary ball point that Bea was using in the old Hare Building which we left in 1968. But I love colors in ink, and I keep buying more because they tend to stop writing faster than ordinary ball points. It is also ridiculous because the colors I like best are pastel, and they are very, very hard to see on checks with pictures. Oh, and I like checks with pictures. BJ often says to me, “CA, your life is so complicated!”

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        • CA, What is the contact information for your Episcopal parish and priest? II’d like to send this in advance of your demise in order for the memorial service homily to capture a bit of the Kidder humor. I can hear BJ’s voice and chuckle in her comment.

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