Slam+Poetry

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On Girls Lending Pens By Taylor Mali

I walked into the classroom and straight to my chair, But when I reached for my pen, it just wasn’t there! I had no pen! or crayon! or pencil! I was stuck before class without a writing utensil.

I could have asked the teacher (if I had dared,) But I knew she would have said, “You’re unprepared!” So to be diplomatic and avoid the fight I quickly turned to the girl on my right,

Do you possibly have a pen I could borrow? I’ll use it today and have it back by tomorrow. “Oh! Furshur! What kind? I’ve got plenty.” And she turned around with a handful of twenty.

I really don’t care what color or style, I’ll take the fountain pen, I said with a smile. “Oh, you don’t want that one. It comes out all ugly. And it’s made of pure gold,” she said to me smugly.

Then how bout the blue? “No, that one hops. Okay, maybe the green? “Comes out in glops.” Black? “I’m afraid it’s having trouble connecting.” Red? “I’ll need it if we do any in-class correcting."

Look, I said, my voice filling with fear, Just gimme a pen before the teacher gets here!

“But this one always comes out in tons, The yellow one skips and the purple one runs. When the brown one dries, it looks real icky, And the orange one’s covered with something sticky. This one’s for emergencies (in case I get confused) ‘cause it’s clean and it’s fresh and it’s never been used. I keep this one for quizzes ‘cause it brings good luck, And the ballpoint’s splotchy and the cap is stuck. This one’s empty, with the silver band, And the felt-tip will leak all over your hand. This one’s cracked, and that’s gone berserk! And that would be perfect but it doesn’t work. But here! Take this one! This one’s fine! Oh wait…I’m sorry, this one’s mine.”

I think she went on but I couldn’t have cared. I decided it was better to go unprepared.

There are many poetic devices in "On Girls Lending Pens". The main device used is rhythm and rhyme. Every two lines rhyme with eachother. "On Girls Lending Pens" has an AABB rhyme scheme which adds a fun feel to the writing. "Then how bout the blue? No, that one hops." is an example of a personification because pens do not actually hop. The pens are also symbolic of the little things in life. They prove how some people take pride in the little less important things and how some care only about the larger aspects. The word "pen" was definitely a key word because it was the main topic of the poem. The overal theme in the poem "On Girls Lending Pens" is about how everyone is different and unique, and how we all care about different things. The girl in this poem cared about the little things and details, while the guy tended to look at the big picture of needing a pen for class. Girls also tend to have different intrests then guys and for the most part. I chose "On Girls Lending Pens" because of two reasons. First of all, I really liked the topic because I find it to be really true. I know a lot of people, including myself, who would say something along the lines of the poem. Secondly, I really liked the flow of the poem. It kind of reminded me of something Dr. Suess would write because of all of thet rhyming. It was very different from the rest of Taylor Mali's poems because of the flow. Most of his poems are just him speaking, so I liked "On Girls Lending Pens" because it was something different and interesting to listen to.