Comma Toes

Where to step a comma , 
to tiptoe haltingly , 
without readers tripping over it , 
losing their way. 

A comma pirate drops his  
     offshore   , 
as if it had a special purpose , 
a bouncing buoy ringing a bell , 
a porpoise out all alone. 

The comma critic , well-versed  
in elementary particularity , 
vacuums up all the fallen commas , 
the mote dust off a linoleum floor. 

The exclamation point shouts , 
a telephone pole poised atop 
a bowling ball !

While the ear shaped question 
mark asks the obvious ,
ad nauseam ,
comatose.
“Why all the questions!” “Why are you always shouting?”

Published by Joe Linker

2 Comments

  1. courseofmirrors says:
    June 4, 2022 at 6:03 am

    I rely on others to sweep up my too many commas when writing in English. Not surprising, when you consider the German use of these tricky little motes …https://www.goethe.de/ins/ca/en/kul/ges/ssk/22159284.html

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Joe Linker says:
      June 4, 2022 at 9:16 am

      Thx, Ashen. Had not seen the Kanada site before. Interesting. As for commas, I was thinking Comma Paws, or Comma Claws. Like a cat’s, a retractile comma – gently squeeze the sentence and see the comma emerge!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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