Thoreau and the Pencil(ˈpensəl)

Thoreau and the Pencil(ˈpensəl)

The Pencil and The Word

By Henry(ˈhenrē) H. Walker

Henry David Thoreau
found experience(ikˈspi(ə)rēəns) and words
to move us all forward,
if we but have the wit(wit) to move,

I think of him
as my pen misses some
of the sureness(SHo͝or) of ink to paper
we usually assume(əˈso͞om) must be how things are,

Thoreau and family ran a small factory
that made excellent(ˈeksələnt) pencils in early New England,
the cheap and easy writing implement(lə) of that time,

for me, our technology has moved past pencils,
yet, as I think of Thoreau,
I want to know the pencil:
cheap, democratic(ˌdeməˈkratik),
a way for the Word
to express(ikˈspres) itself.

http://henryspoetry.blogspot.sg/2018/03/thoreau-and-pencil.html