I was listening to a music program on ABC National Radio in May 2015 - I'm not even sure at this stage if it was The Inside Sleeve or The Daily Planet - when the singer/songwriter being interviewed told the story of being in a restaurant in New Zealand and overhearing a conversation about the Palomino Black Wing 602 pencil, widely regarded as the world's best pencil. The long and short of it is that he was so impressed by the concept that he wrote a song called Palomino Pony or something like that.
This got me interested and I googled Palomino Black Wing 602 - and sure enough, there it was.
The Palomino Blackwing draws a dark, velvety line, which has been described as being akin to ‘writing with butter’. It’s world famous too, with a raft of pop-culture icons including John Steinbeck and Frank Lloyd Wright choosing the Blackwing as their writing implement. The Blackwing writing pencil and 602 sketching pencil were originally made by Eberhard Faber in the 1930s. Today California Cedar’s Palomino produces the pencil using cedarwood and quality graphite. The signature replaceable eraser is rectangular, giving the pencil an individual aesthetic.
Wow, I must have one of those, I thought. Alas, a search showed it was next to impossible to purchase in Melbourne, except online, with a big postal cost. So it went on the backburner.
Thanks to my training partner Michelle who sourced the Palomino from Sedonia for only $5 per pencil. A few days after hearing this, I was presented with my own two Palomino pencils - thanks heaps Michelle!
For the record, Sedonia is found at 41 Gamon St, Sedon. Sedon is a suburb in Melbourne's west. It deserves your trade!
I went straight home and sat down and wrote my first ever poem, inspired by the pencil.
ODE TO THE PALOMINO
White parchment on the table
Palomino in the hand
Anticipation building
Will it be something grand?
As Steinbeck wrote The Pearl
The palomino formed each letter
Effortlessly it crossed the page
The finished product all the better.
A simple thing of wood and graphite
Yet so wonderful to hold
Words tumbled from his mind
The writing strong and bold.
No, I'm not a Steinbeck
For me the words come slow
Yet the palomino guides me
And helps the stanzas grow.
While it won't be published
Or read by people far and wide
Eventually I'll stop and read it
Palomino at my side.
Tim
9 July 2015
Yes, I know it's pretty poor but hey, it's original.
