I love living with another writer. Petra and I share a symmetrical passion for books, stories, and tea, and it makes for a cozy life.
We also share a love of pens, though that love is asymmetrical. By this I mean we each have our own favorite brand of pen. And while she openly does not like writing with mine, I… secretly enjoy scribbling with hers. Thus my pens never wander around the house, while sometimes hers (through deeply mysterious and mystical means) end up on my desk.
Sorry, Love. 😘
It’s hard for a writing home to have too many pens. It’s also hard for our home to have too many books, too much tea, or too many mugs:
Tea Mugs for Two Writers
There’s the one with the chicken standing on the pig, and the one with the dog that took two tries to buy. There’s the round-handled one, filled with your pens, and the ones on the high shelf meant only for guests. There’s the two little white ones you want when you’re sick, and your blue everyday one, shaped like your hands, then my everyday one, which reminds me of friends, and the one with the castle from that thrift store on Sprague. It’s retired from tea now, and holds pens on my desk, because we convinced ourselves it must be painted in lead, and there’s the one right beside it we shattered that night laughing and running wild in our home. I glued it back together, a fun ceramic puzzle, and now it holds a tiny ruler and even more pens.
There’s something about these ‘catalogue’ poems I really enjoy. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but if you enjoy this format, too, I shared another one a few months ago you might like, about the history of my tiny desk.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this finds you drinking something delicious from a beloved mug, scribbling your thoughts with the perfect pen (borrowed or otherwise),
~ A
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I like “catalog” poems too. And this delighted me because Josh’s favorite pencil often finds its way to my desk:
“Thus my pens never wander around the house, while sometimes hers (through deeply mysterious and mystical means) end up on my desk.”
Ah this is so good. We have a collection of mugs just like this and each has a story. I love how you constructed this.