I have a love affair with the simple pencil. Pencils help me design and describe nearly everything I do. I prefer to talk about ideas with a pencil in my hand. There must be over a hundred yellow pencils waiting in jars and old cans around the shop, ready when I need them. I was not born with an ear shaped in a way that allows for tucking a pencil behind it, much to my disappointment. I do have a pocket in my apron just for pencils. I favor the yellow octagonal ones and I prefer them to be sharp. I know I press too hard on the poor things and regularly snap the leads, hence the multiple locations for fresh pencils. The end of my day often consists of gathering the scattered pencils for a short crank in the sharpener and a return to their jars. Instead of a video showing me sharpening pencils, which, I think, would be very satisfying, here is an ode to these essential tools.

New Pencil

An octagonal wooden shaft
Wrapped in yellow paint.
At one end, a soft, pink jewel
Set in a silver ferrel.
A streak of stardust runs through the middle
to a sharp point on the free end.

Randy Leavitt