Push Pins

Visual Poem

I work at a bank I 
push pins-
For a living.

I stitch I
push pin-
For a living.

I make circles I
push pi-
For a living.

I print I
push p-
For a living.

I hold doors I
push-
For a living.

I seethe I
pus-
For a living.

I am radioactive I
pu-
For a living.

I waste I 
p-
For a living.

I am a poet I
-
put a pin in “push pins” for a living.

¹sketch by Four-Fours Poetry Founding Subscriber, Sashank Krothapally

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Poetry Tip of the Day!

I write because I genuinely enjoy playing with words. I love puns, and line endings, and thinking about which word sounds the best, or which word will taste the best when I perform. This time I was sitting in my History of Film class and realized that a hyphen looks a lot like a push pin — a small, sharp object that affixes things together. The existential question I tried to answer with the poem was “what ‘affixes’ me to this world?” I first felt like work tethers me to reality. My occupation. Something concrete that contributes to the machine. But as the poem progressed, it became clearer that anything that happens outside of pen and paper is just fuel. Writing is the vehicle. The real contribution. And it’s the only place I do not compromise.

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