Oh yes. Yes indeed.
Appeal to the Grammarians
by Paul Violi
We, the naturally
hopeful,
Need a simple sign
For the
myriad ways we're
capsized.
We who love
precise language
Need a finer way to
convey
Disappointment and
perplexity.
For speechlessness and all its
inflections,
For up-ended
expectations,
For every time we're
ambushed
By trivial or
stupefying irony,
For pure
incredulity, we need
The
inverted exclamation point.
For the dropped smile, the
limp handshake,
For whoever has just unwrapped a
dumb gift
Or taken the first sip of a flat beer,
Or felt love or pond ice
Give way
underfoot, we deserve it.
We need it for the air
pocket, the scratch shot,
The child whose ball doesn't bounce back,
The flat tire at journey's
outset,
The
odyssey that ends up in Weehawken.
But mainly because I need it--here and now
As I sit outside the Caffe Reggio
Staring at my
espresso and
cannoli
After this middle-aged couple
Came strolling by and he suddenly
Veered and
sneezed all over my table
And she said to him, "See,
that's why
I don't like to eat outside."
Thanks! One of my new favorites. Isn't it frightfully true?
Fabulous piece of verse!
Oh, I like this poem.