If I were a punctuation mark
I know I’d be a dash—
an em-dash.
Not an en-dash! (–)
En-dashes are in a hurry.
The en-dash is The White Rabbit;
the em-dash—
more like the Cheshire Cat.
An en-dash has no time for Mystery! No, no–the en-dash has places to go.
People to see. All very important.
I hear you ask,
What is this “em-dash” of which you speak, O Poet?
Is there such a thing? Ne’er have I heard tell of it.
Oh, yes!
There really is such a thing.
Only Word-Nerds—
editors, for example—
know its proper name.
But it’s real enough.
What I love about it
is its subtle promise
of more to come—
(See? Don’t you love it!)
Like a raindrop on a leaf,
quivering on a green edge—
—
—
(wait for it)—
plop.
Soooo satisfying.
I love the unspoken-ness,
the possibility-full-ness,
the downright seduction of
The Dash.
It’s the crooked finger,
the backward glance,
the tongue-tip touching—
ever so slightly,
ever so lightly—
April 4, 2012
Yea! Love the exploration of punctuation. I love using the dash, but many typefaces ignore it and the poor em looks ugly. Some are short, or with a flourish at the end, but most are too long. Nice, JCubed.
Glad you liked it, Jez! I thought you might. tee-hee!