Swizzle Stick

cup with a crack

April 16 Prompt: Ordinary object(s) — explore the usual or unusual uses of ordinary objects

cup with a crack
unsafe for coffee
has a bellyful of pens
on my desk

cup was a gift
from a departing class
a PARIS china cup
with a crack up Notre Dame

when new & intact
I drank instant coffee
at work from this cup
then it cracked

now it's a dry cup
a lip of red ink
on Montmartre
it's a cup of pens

a bouquet of pens
everyday blacks & blues
pen with dinosaur
pen with daisy

pens who hide
when they no longer work
huddled in the middle
clustered up the back

I am a cracked cup
I'm a pen who might not work
I exist objectively
please keep me

pens that need culling
in cup that needs cleaning
gold dust & lacquer
Kintsugi repair

cup with a crack
& pictures of Paris
sits on my desk
with a bouquet of pens