“Pursuit 2” © Edward Michael Supranowicz

 

The Breakup
There was never really a spark with the Oxford comma. These two poems mark the end of the affair.

 

The Uninvited Guest

That Oxford comma—tell me, what it’s for?
How did this character get through the door?

She doesn’t know the rest, she brings no gifts—
A party crasher: a title that fits.

A waste of power, and a waste of ink,
I’d get her out—won’t offer her a drink.

A waste of space; she doesn’t even fit.
She lacks wisdom, and she is devoid of wit.

If you ask me, why is she still around
And why is she not six feet in the ground,

You’d really stump me—I just wouldn’t know
How you could let such a travesty go!

 

A Love Poem
To a grammarian

You are my Oxford comma, dear
You bring me love, you bring me cheer
For my pot, you’re the tightest lid—
You make me see what Merwin* did

—* Poet W.S. Merwin, at one point in his career, chose to eliminate all punctuation from his poetry.

 

The New Love Affair
Enter the em dash: sleek, expressive, irresistible. Two poems about a punctuational passion.

That Dashing One
It is not just a dash—
It lifts your words from blah
To a whisper of aah—
The nifty, smart em dash

 

An Ode to the Em

The versatile Em brings fire to your coal—
Like Meryl Streep—She shines in every role!

 

B. N. Faraj is a writer and poet based in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. His work appears in Transference and the anthology Mother, a Title Just Above Queen.

Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is A Jar, The Phoenix, and The Harvard Advocate. Edward is also a published poet who has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize multiple times.