Okay folks. Another easy one this month. A straightforward rhyming couplet ‘sonnet’ on a subject close to all our hearts. The metre is uneven but ‘natural’, ie. the rhythm flows quite nicely.  I’ve only taken out each alternate rhyme word so there are just seven clues. Good luck!

The Pen

The pen hectors and seduces

Magnifies and -------

It’s a window or a mask

A plaything to take to ----

An instrument of rich catharsis

Excuse for sitting on our -----

It spills its blood on virgin page

Begetting life on life and -----

Teaches naughty children not to fidget

Can bore any, of any age, -----

It will mollify a lover’s heart

Then write the page tears them -----

It’s the light in which we daily bathe

It’s the dark in us to know and ----

1. Decreases the size of unruly red cues (7)
2. Little thank yous with weight for job (4)
3. Bottoms found in cars especially (5)
4. Platform that reveals how old a saint is? (5)
5. Cheat when constructing Freud’s inner drive? That’s stiff! (5)
6. One piece is sundered (5)
7. Redeem or keep forever (4)