Pencil Man
The last time I saw my father in his fullest self, he was laughing, telling stories, and commenting on the feast I’d prepared for his visit. It’s a party! he’d say whenever we presented him with a homecooked meal.
Then, in the summer of 2014, a stent surgery erased the man we once knew.
This book is both a tribute to the almost mythical figure my memory conjures whenever I think of my dad, and also, the enormous complexity of elder care and the challenges we face as we witness the decline of our loved ones.
Cover art by Maaike VanderMeer
Book design by Carolyn Sheltraw
Author photo by Lesley Bohm
Available for purchase
$15
Praise for
Pencil man
In her masterful new collection, Pencil Man, Sue Ann Gleason writes: “Memory is the rain that soothes scorched earth.” Yet this chapbook is not only a remembrance or memorial for her lost father; in each new poem, she builds the narrative of a family of immigrants who made do, using food as a form of love. As these pieces move between the rich past and harrowing present of caring for an ailing father, we are each led back to our own stories of grief, and the redemption we feel each time “a whisper from the spirit world” brings our loved ones back to us again. Though I didn’t want this collection to end, by the final poem, we have also fallen in love with a father who “sees art everywhere,” finding beauty in the simplest of everyday things—spring peepers, fence posts, the deeply etched lines of a smiling face. Sue Ann’s poems gently remind us that we might do the same.
James Crews
author of Unlocking the Heart: Writing for Mindfulness, Courage & Self-Compassion
Sue Ann’s work is lyrical, wise, and sharply observed. A deeply moving tribute to a father, Pencil Man stands also as a poignant altar to memory. This collection brims and sings, reminding us to love with fervor, magnitude, and earnest attention.
Joy Sullivan
author of Instructions for Traveling West
Sue Ann Gleason’s Pencil Man carries us through the tender and complicated rooms of grief, how memory paints a father. Whether it is “dark and sweet as the night sky flecked with fireflies and the promise of forever” or “a sun-spent tomato clinging to the vine,” the loss in these pages is only amplified by the living. The father’s portrait, backlit with laughter, squeezes every ounce of life from watercolor spit drawings, lemon cake, and roadside whim. This stunning collection, filled with delicious nostalgia and endless ache, allows the reader to walk hand-in-hand through the recounted joy and relentless echo—how the heart never stops reaching for the love that shaped it.
Kelly Grace Thomas
author of Boat Burned
Sue Ann Gleason’s poems are crisp, elegiac, heart-rending and heart-mending. In her moving collection, Pencil Man, she beautifully conjures her remarkable father, the immense impact he had on her, and the long and disorienting loss of him. Her poems are full of sensorial shocks like “the aroma of coffee as dark and sweet as the night sky flecked with fireflies and the promise of forever.” And, they are also full of resonant images of everyday life, reminding me of William Carlos Williams’ argument that there is “no poetry, but in things.” Sue Ann’s poems will help you to touch the veil between life and death and be transformed in the process.
Dawn Lonsinger
author of Whelm
Pencil Man is a poignant and visceral collection of poems that brought me to tears numerous times. Sue Ann Gleason eloquently and tenderly conveys her love for her father, taking readers along on their journey through life and beyond. These poems span generations and cultures, dancing with themes of aging and loss, all interwoven with food as a memory vehicle. I feel like I am right there with the author for every meal, every visit with her father, every dream. A truly touching poetry collection that I highly recommend.
Sonja Ringo
author of moral atla
In Pencil Man, Sue Ann Gleason builds a monument of awe in the face of grief. Every poem is a song of reverence and nostalgia accompanied by a measured balance of rich detail, a birds-eye view of a vibrant life. Sue Ann’s voice is honest, observant, and fresh. Each poem carries a human truth that we all yearn to understand. This collection is a sensory experience brimming with lemon zest, salty laughter, and the warm ache of a daughter who wants to celebrate the memory of her father. By the end of it, I think I love her father as much as I should love mine. I have a new understanding of what it means to be a family. I will carry this collection with me, and share it with others, for a long time. Sue Ann reminds us that grief can be a fog, a recipe, and, often, a paintbrush.
Patrick Ramsay
author of Butterflies are Rare in Beehives
About the Author
Sue Ann Gleason, author of in the glint of broken glass and Pencil Man, is a poet, educator, and activist. Her poems and essays have appeared in places like The Sunlight Press, Blue Heron Review, The Rebis, and several anthologies including kerning: a space for words and The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace & Renewal.
Sue Ann holds inspired writing circles and organizes grassroots efforts, nurturing agents for change in an increasingly complex world. When she’s not worrying over words, you’ll find her cooking up mouth-watering meals or conjuring craft cocktails. Like her father, she loves a good party.
