As I put my pencil to the paper

Maybe a bit of this and a bit of that

A dab of the morbid

and a splash of optimism

As I put my pencil to the paper

I write so the timid do fear

But the convicted will not stray

Controversy flooding onto the paper

Eyes opened instead of closed

As I put my pencil to this paper

I want you to follow me

Follow what I have to say

I am not malignant

Maybe just a little opinionated

As I put my pencil to this paper

I will lead you through the cogs that are

audience, genre, and rhetoric

to make this piece go

As I put my pencil to this paper

You can come or stay

But it won’t stop these words

On their way