Poetry

Isabel and The Printer

This poem was written by Bill, our Head of Production, as he was printing a birth announcement for little Isabel. Her mom is one of our clients.

Isabel’s  tiny hands and feet
have found a permanent place
somewhere, down there in my heart.
I have studied them with such care and intensity,
bringing them to life (again)
with just the right shade of pink,
delicately debossed into the crisp elegance
of the rough textured, heavy, fine art paper—
her chubby little left foot, slightly crooked right pinky,
and on her right foot, the nerve-like cluster of creases
that caught the light just so, each time I pulled the print from the press—
studied it for color and coverage and placement,
to get as close to perfect as those little feet and hands
had already gotten.

Bill Denham
December 21. 2007