Slam+Poetry

media type="youtube" key="44sXwJgqUyc" height="315" width="420"

= 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.

I think this poem is trying to make a joke out of stereotypically overly organized girls. There's a lot of imagery with the discriptions of all the pens. There's also rythm and rhyme throughout the entire poem. There aren't really any metaphors or similes in this particular poem. It is very detailed and you can really imagine vividly being in his position. It also tells the full story, it holds your intrest!