"On Punctuation" by Elizabeth Austen
not for me the dogma of the period
preaching order and a sure conclusion
and no not for me the prissy
formality or tight-lipped fence
of the colon and as for the semi-
colon call it what it is
a period slumming
with the commas
a poser at the bar
feigning liberation with one hand
tightening the leash with the other
oh give me the headlong run-on
fragment dangling its feet
over the edge give me the sly
comma with its come-hither
wave teasing all the characters
on either side give me ellipses
not just a gang of periods
a trail of possibilities
or give me the sweet interrupting dash
the running leaping joining dash all the voices
gleeing out over one another
oh if I must
punctuate
give me the YIPPEE
of the exclamation point
give me give me the curling
cupping curve mounting the period
with voluptuous uncertainty
Julie, you have outdone yourself...this is a fantastic poem to post! Such good taste, my dear. And thank you for the birthday card, it was such a happy surprise...I got sooo exciting reading the Moore quote, it took me back to my Dr. Smith class :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! That is clever, very clever!
ReplyDeleteah! love it! my personal favorite punctuation mark is the semicolon... but I'll never think of it the same way again, now that I've seen it called "a period slumming / with the commas / a poser at the bar / feigning liberation with one hand / tightening the leash with the other" hahaha
ReplyDeleteI've translated Elizabeth's poem to Spanish, it sounds great! - A challenge I must say.
ReplyDelete