An Inquisition of Punctuation

Is poetry a written form
or is it meant to be read
aloud      if only by
the voice in your head
Concrete poems would convey
nothing of their shape by recitation
whilst Limericks demand
reading aloud their ribald rhymes
no hesitation
and if as poet you hope for
someone else to do the honours
consider giving a little guidance
in the matter of delivery
a comma gives the slightest pause
especially midline for line breaks
require not the little tadpole
or even a period’s emphatic end
I like a space hyphen space
to indicate a slightly Longer pause or
see line three for a positive gap
a dramatic pause
a pause for effect

In Ulysses
James Joyce
gives us a manifesto
for stream of consciousness
but Virginia Woolf in Mrs Dalloway
reads so much easier
the stream guided with a
modicum of punctuation

Unlike composers of music
we poets are not tyrants
issuing cryptic instructions
in superscript
for volume and speed
forte and piano
andante and lente
leaving limited room for
conductors’ interpretation
we poets trust our readers
to read and rehearse
to infuse the best intonation

The semicolon has no place
in poetry or fiction
that tadpole crowned with a dot
and do all questions
require a question mark
I’ll let you be the judge

And so to round off poems
stories and comments
my addiction is to the ellipsis
whose merits I have debated with
tonight’s muse and I think
she is persuaded that
it means so much more than
duh duh duh
for me the ellipsis
leaves a little open
forgoes finality
invites contemplation
if not response
and so I give you
an imaginary ellipsis

© Andrew Wilson, 2026

Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Melissa Lemay in Uncategorized (Poetics), invites us to write without punctuation…