Ink Pen

I’m funny about my pens.
I used to write only with a real
fountain pen
until they became a nuisance
with their incessant leaks.
Now,
I use only a rollerball
preferably with a micro point
but fine will do in a pinch.

What I absolutley won’t use
except in an emergency–
the lowly ball point
but I cant’ tell you the times
I’ve had a pen leak
all over my hands
writing a check in church
or I remember Ellen
at M.D. Aderson
desperate to get ink stains
off her fingers
on her way to treatment
needing to be worthy
to be healed.