By James B. Nicola
My grandma’s Underwood, older than she,
keeps writing, as if driven by a truth
she has to spread. Ribbons, as late as ’90,
were even sold at Spag’s. When any key
gets filled, we clean it with a tossed-out tooth-
brush soaked in warm water and a mild soap.
This makes the thing not quite as good as new,
but willing to work for another day
of words warmed with a modicum of hope,
albeit relegated to a play-
room for the great-grandkids she never knew.
James B. Nicola is the author of eight collections of poetry, the latest three being Fires of Heaven: Poems of Faith and Sense, Turns & Twists, and Natural Tendencies. His nonfiction book Playing the Audience: The Practical Actor’s Guide to Live Performance won a Choice magazine award. He has received a Dana Literary Award, two Willow Review awards, Storyteller’s People’s Choice award, one Best of Net, one Rhysling, and eleven Pushcart nominations—for which he feels stunned and grateful. A graduate of Yale, James hosts the Writers’ Roundtable at his library branch in Manhattan: walk-ins are always welcome.