NaPM April 07, 2017

[nibbed]

Power Lock

They are always reliable
half the reason
is because they are yellow,
magical force
must be why they slurp back
into their safe silver case,
fast and sleek.

I always take care
not to rest my hand on the edge
whenever I push the release button;
a student in gym class
lost her thumb
(they sewed it back on),
kinda being teacher's pet,
helping mark
the newly waxed floor
for long jumps.

I thought I'd be clever once,
make an impression:
pulled it all the way, twenty-five feet
or more?
I heard the spring give way,
that doyang thang it does,
then quiet, dead;

It wouldn't retract,
why should I be surprised?
Yeah, he was watching.

Clumsy wishes
cannot give trapped springs
back their power.
I tossed it in a can;

I should have saved it
for a growth chart,
or some other craft,

like all the others
I have never pinned.