"semi colon"
my proctologist told me
Pluto is not a planet
but Uranus is
A semi-colon connects two thoughts together
An exclamation mark screams out its cause
You don’t have to wait until the end to breathe
a comma can give you a pause
A question mark begs for an answer
Quotations usually mean this is not mine
A colon tells me there is a list
or the second and first parts are combined
Then there is the hyphen, En dash, and Em dash
It’s really hard to tell them apart
The hyphen is the shortest and Em is longer
to explain them I would not know where to start
Don’t forget about parentheses and apostrophes
Slashes, brackets, ellipses, and…other stuff
But my favorite punctuation is the period
it tells me when enough is enough.
How would they know?
I mean, this could be AI.
Could write
Any
Old bollocks.
Does it have
The
Spirit; of my poetry?
Where is my
Soul? Is it
Next to this semi-colon? :
Look at it,
Bit lonely there
But
We all are
My son
Is writing a story on paper across the room
Let he forever
Be his own mind
On paper,
In voice
In spirit
Have Fun, Read Aloud
Hi Soma
Comma
Why in tension
Interrogation
No cloud, no flash
Dash
Clear sky shown
Colon
Calm cool environ
Semi colon
Why hesitation
Exclamation
Have fun, go to shop
Full stop.
03/04/ 2023
Strand Premiere No. 1194
Contest by Brian Strand
Must we debate the virtues of a period
Or even a comma at the end of a line?
As poets we will do well to remember
Sometimes no punctuation, at all,
is just fine!
Then there are those who use ellipses
Which mean nothing when and if, in fact,
The line which these little dots follow
Is completely devoid of the meaning
it lacked!
A word on the absence of the semi-colon
So absolutely necessary in congenial prose,
But in poetry is almost never employed;
Absent in almost all poems, scarcely missed
I suppose!
Written September 24, 2022
A semi baked semi colon is neither a seminar nor a seminary session. It is in fact the whirr of wheels from the large overweight apostrophe on a bike. Uphill downhill and all around the picturesque towns, villages and hamlets but not cities for cityscapes' are carnivorous and carnivores can charm even a chalice from a wagon if and when sealed with the juice of a steak. Well oiled grease test then. All in line. Good. Garages grab greenery giving great galloping geraniums. On the phone now are we? Oh good afternoon. Good morning. Good evening. But never a good night in a customer query box ticked. Tickle a ticket to induce laughter. In many many rides on a bus or a train a mandatory mane maneuvers managing mere mobile movements. And always remember that the globetrotting goldfish in the wicker hat can sing mist loudly to a cone. Hahaha Kyu k pass hai saja hai mekhana and a fried onion belches to a melted cheese. *** geomorphologic Z
Flouncing flamenco style or doubling up for a pass a doublet is neither a right or a wrong in a semi colon in nightgowns. But trespassing on a land? Really? Who said? Hum. Huh. Disgusting. Go irrigate a system. It is irrelevant in an underpass. Really. Are Astronaughts astronomically passing? Or is it the ordered preordained multitasking whisk that whirls around. Speaking in a descant voice is rather a pleasant octave. Ignoring ignorance irrationally is a quotation on a journey. But planting ones feet in a mystical view is an integral part of being a being and being a being is good and who would argue with a ninety thousand year old goldfish. Not wise. Not clever. Compunction compounds. I don't wanna wear clothes says I but I have to. Says who. Snails travel at high speeds un the morning. Hahahahahahahaha now eat. Hahahahaha boom bang. Imminent. Dangerous dogs demonic. No ha ha to that bunch of dying arranged posies. Xxxxx decriminalisation z
One day a semi colon met a comma under a bridge. So to speak is to shroud and to silence is to say. State nothing. And there is no saliva in a dust bowl. Stake not a steak. And in a paragraph dance with the suffix. It is imperative to peel prawn correctly when prawn has a capital letter. And dignified digging is done. Great. Draining doing diving dredging dogsleds. And the curvature of a letter b. Wow. Sanctimonious c and a large d frontage. Deepen not the ideological wisdom of a wind in a glass tea cup. Xxxxx vaporisation version. Xxxx clap. Xxxxx geoengineering z
The semi circular motion of a semi colon is neither a separation of an apostrophe or a mere dot of a full stop. Perhaps the embrace of a bracket within a sentence could harness and calm words. It is imperative form and involves structure but editing can eradicate meaning so don't cross out or erase those words that come from the mind to land on paper,parchment or text. Deletion is not a recommended task. All words arrive from a source. A recording from within translated. Would one really bake a tasty pie, curry, or other fodder then place in a bin? Would one put on nice clothing then jump into mud? No no no. And to create is not to crease. So go jump up and down on a hill waving one's arms in a motion understood by the skypaths of time. Depersonalization Zr Z xxxx
Here I am just a little dot to signify the end of a thought
Should I go here. or maybe there.
Ah, just use a comma, it will not totally interrupt that thought
Whoa! Wrap it up with a semi-colon;
Her thoughts just keep jumping
Maybe I'll type on the parenthesis(and slow them down)
Where am I placed anyway?(question)
First row ring finger.....
Oh! She found me now the page is filing with dots...............Stop.........stop.....
Me the period a writer's friend~~~
When I'm properly used requires a breath________
Breathe now......Breathe now..
Are you resuscitated yet???
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Sponsor: Debbie Guzzi
Contest: Punctuation Personification
ink stained words
I dropped – they fell
discarded cuz
I cudn’t spell
cudn’t get
the “I’s” and “E’s”
in proper places
to a peas
the winners of
the spelling B’s
who mem or eyes
dick shun rees
a comma coma
quest shun mark
words running on
into the dark
rhythm gone
cadence stolen
by a half-assed
semi colon
rhymes that bear lee
make the grade
spel cheque errors
on par aid
so keep yur cray ons
sharp and brite
color all the words
ewe right
flavor thim
wit spice and hues
ink stained poets
paying do’s.
//with apologies to Dr. Seuss//
John G. Lawless
8/7/2015
I struggle with this modern speak
It’s as confusing as can be
Nonsense sentences that are stopped
With a colon and a p : p
Then there is this other crap
A semi colon and a bracket ; )
Do you think I’m a clever prick
Because I can’t bloody crack it
Abbreviations sure don’t help
What the hell is SMS?
Obviously for something short
The message I can’t guess.
I sometimes email questions
And get answered IDK
Please dear God give me strength
I no know what you say!
FYI doesn’t help
I need more information
And when I ask and get a K
It causes irritation
I guess you think it’s funny
To reply with L. O. L
Damn you bastards with your speak
Our language has gone to hell.
Morning is a question mark –
Serenity or drama?
Afternoon’s a semi-colon,
Period or comma.
If the day’s routine,
You’d list its parts behind a colon:
Ordinary expectations
Keep those hours rollin’.
Hyphens give one pause, though things
May not be out of joint.
What you must be careful of’s
The exclamation point.
For this little bugger
May show anger, joy or fear.
Many people would prefer
It never would appear.
Punctuation rules the day
And shows us what we’ve got.
Nighttime comes and then we’re left
With dot and dot and dot…
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