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A Giant's Story
- Nicola Koen
- Jul 1
- 1 min read
By Nicola Koen
Posted on July 1, 2025
Cover Image Title: The Weight of Words
Cover Image by: Sarah Gagnon
Classification: Drawing and Photography
Specifications: 11 inches x 14 inches
Year: 2025
The pen cap flew
from the writing instrument,
like a rocket landing on
the blank page with a soft thud.
Idea.
A mammoth hand clutched a pen,
better suited for a doll,
hastily scribbling, etching ink across the page
like a tattoo artist would decorate flesh.
Scratch.
A line of the blue pigment
struck through the words
this creature
had glorified seconds before.
A muffled whump followed the pen as it struck the notepad.
Failed.
Sagging shoulders, wet cheeks
Word replaying like a broken record,
Failed, Failed, Failed
Yet the giant still managed to lift the pen. A word was mapped onto the notepad. Then another.
A giant’s story.
Description:
This poem follows the journey of a giant learning how to write. At first, he struggles as the words he thought were perfect seem ‘wrong’ once written on the page. This is further explored by the unusual structure that emphasizes the uncertainty in life. Eventually, the giant decides to try again, ending the poem with its heading. One can further explore this as the giant’s ‘writing’ the poem after facing the challenge that writing, or life, presents.
[ Writing Editor: J.Y. ]
