On Writing Poem by Say Hao Lim

in Grade Four
Pens we use in school
To write and not erase
To see the kind of praise
we get when people think pens are cool
When cool it is not all.

in Grade Twelve
'You may use pencils for' this and that, and they're neater
Because you can always erase and make it better, why,

Pens are determinants of fate
You can't erase the marks
but strike them off or Cover Them Up
Because you think it's wrong
Because 'your' textbook says it's wrong.

We don't use pencils now.
Pencils are for annotations on someone's textbook.
Pens are

for writing your Papers, every word glorious.