Empty Cartridge

Empty Cartridge 

By John R. Greenwood

It’s been a long time since I’ve emptied a pen cartridge. Over the last several years I did most of my writing on my laptop or iPad. When I first started writing I would use a black and white composition book or a regular wire notebook. Because I’d run into a writing dry spell I thought it might help if I went back to pad and pen. I was at BJ’s the other day and saw this Olympic size package of 8.5X11” pads and a twelve pack of Zebra Pens with extra refills. Like a kid going back to school in September I tossed them in the cart and sped off smiling. There’s no better way to get back to business. The new pads and pens did the trick. Slowly but surely I’m getting back in the grove of writing something every couple of days. As much as I’d like to commit to a daily routine I’ve lived with the guy in the mirror long enough to know when the driveway is covered in snow the writing may have to wait another day. This morning as I was hen-scratching my way through another piece my pen went dry. I couldn’t believe I’d actually emptied a pen cartridge. It felt good in a weird kind of way. There may be hope for me yet. I may even get back to inking some new poems. 

In fact:

Empty Cartridge 

By John R. Greenwood

Ink not gunpowder 

firing away at the page

spraying words in rapid succession

leaving stories of hope 

line by line 

refueling the passion of pen to pad

emptying the cartridge 

like a kid with a dry squirt gun

just as the fight was getting fun