I recently purchased a typewriter, and stamped clearly on the platen were the words;

Karen Anderson is

This inspired the following poem.  What a wonderful writing prompt!  Who was Karen?  Did she herself type this?  Perhaps a friend?  More questions than answers.  Still, I couldn’t shake her from my mind.

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KAREN ANDERSON IS . . .

Karen Anderson is…
stamped upon my platen, forever to be seen.
I wonder what she thought, and where she's been?

Perhaps she typed her own name,
thinking only later on,
that no one might quite find her,
with no paper drawn upon.

Yet here she is, sweet Karen,
and I wonder just what she is.
Is she drawn and quartered, married?
Is she paralyzed with fear?

That some may come one day,
and recognize her fear?
Might every breath be chaos now,
with death close, ever near'r?

Yes! Karen Anderson is,
and shall be to the end.
Will you and I be here or gone
when Karen on this platen fades?

So here we contemplate sweet Karen,
sweet Karen on this roller plate.
A typed omission of her past,
a stamped reminder of her fate.

~TH~    ---   March 11, 2015