At the counter

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Photograph I : The card in, J.R.R. Tolkien – The Lord of the Rings

At the counter

The Pen Shop, Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum

I walked in a shop,

more than one penshop.

It was not, actually, a store.

I have been looking

for a special pen, the year of 1933.

Immediately, I saw the name

of the darkened red pen.

It is signed, “Merlin”.

I keep it in a golden pencil case, nowadays.

It is a fountain pen, with a golden point

and the ink has been refilled by my 2 hands.

The man behind the counter

did not look at my words.

He saw, someone else

enter his shop, while I talked to him.

Twice, he looked at that spirit

before I gave him one particular glance.

I decided to buy his pen,

because polished shoes

last longer, even longer

than a mind might remember.

Petra Cecilia Maria Hermans

Europe, the Netherlands, Tilburg,

April 19, 2019

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9053110-mastership-is-more-than-being-a-wizard

© 2019 Petra Hermans

Photograph II : John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) – The Lord of the Rings

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