Please Don't Punctuate This
The bookstore clerk with the pierced lip
called me Ma’am
while putting William Carlos William
into a brown paper bag
along with the dependable red wheelbarrow
prominently placed next to a white chicken
on a page of unpunctuated poems
The clerk avoided eye contact
as he handed me my change
Does it show on my face, I wondered?
That I’ve neglected to punctuate my own poetry
rejected the clutter of most commas
unplugged the dam of the period
while cursing the warnings of experts
Rules are made to break my heart
and the “love it or leave it” punctuation philosophers
would have me beg for an occasional quotation
question mark or exclamation
The point is this:
I want poetry with the windows open
I want light airy room
and lines that don’t buckle
But when it comes to writing poetry
I’m a minority in the crowd
I’m riding in the back of the bus
Natalie Goldberg wrote down the bones
and poetry at the top of her lungs
She said poetry saved her life
She saved my life as a poet
when I was ready to give it up
She writes without punctuation like me
Or should I say, I write like her
since she is famous
and I am not
I am not
Does it show on my face?
Nikki Giovanni was driving the bus
when she turned to her riders and said:
You don’t need punctuation
let the line break tell the reader when to stop
I sat in her creative writing class
the same year that Lawrence Ferlinghetti complained
(without punctuation)
that there was no Buddha in the woodpile
in Waco Texas when eighty-two bodies were burned
Bob Dylan’s been nominated again
for the Nobel Prize in literature
But is he a poet or a song and dance man?
Did Shakespeare write literature of plays?
Poetry is older than the alphabet
Before commas there was only the breath
to let out or hold back
and not until the Middle Ages
were spaces used between words
introducing the beginning of silent reading
Listen: I write poetry by ear
like the musician who doesn’t read music still plays
Dense poetry makes me drowsy
I don’t sleep well on the bus
and I can’t write in the clatter and chatter of the café
where Natalie doesn’t stop moving her pen
long enough to see me
In the end I’m like Rosa Parks
I don’t want to get up and go where I’m told
I work just as hard as any other poet
and I write from where I sit
~ Colleen Redman 9/07
Post note: The above was read at September’s Spoken Word Open Mic along with Mara’s pro-punctuation poem (details HERE). This month’s Spoken Word night is this Saturday, October 20th 7-9 at the Café Del Sol.
Comments
Ah, wonderful. I would have loved to have heard that read.
Posted by: CountryDew | October 19, 2007 10:47 AM
I'm surprised the issue is still alive.
Posted by: Pearl | October 19, 2007 11:00 AM
love it!
Posted by: bluemountainmama | October 19, 2007 11:49 AM
I like this. I like how you introduce the other writers in building your argument.
Are you admitting that you remember when William Carlos Williams always arrived in a plain brown wrapper?
And Bobby got robbed again. By a feminist, of all things!
~,:^)
Posted by: Rick | October 19, 2007 11:52 AM
I really enjoyed this, as well as the idea of unnecessary punctuation in poetry. :)
~S
Posted by: Shephard | October 19, 2007 1:07 PM
I like this too!
Posted by: Sherry | October 19, 2007 4:57 PM
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS, COLLEEN....I am a Slave to puntuation, but I appreciate someone dancing to their own tune, more than I love punctuatrion...(And btw, I thibnk most of the time I am totally wrong with some of my punctuation...So, I say...Right On Rosa Colleen! (lol)
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | October 19, 2007 5:35 PM
Michele sent me to read your fun poem. I wish we had more readings here, I always enjoy them.
Posted by: Catherine | October 19, 2007 5:36 PM
And my typing SUCKS, Big Time....OY!
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | October 19, 2007 5:36 PM
I like this a lot thanks for sharing it.
Posted by: yolanda | October 19, 2007 6:10 PM
Hi Colleen, just thought I'd drop by and see what you're doing over here. Good stuff! I replied to you comment on my blog. I'll be back for a visit soon!
Posted by: Smiler | October 19, 2007 6:15 PM
You know how I feel about punctuation...I like letting it roll around my words however they like!
Posted by: June | October 19, 2007 8:23 PM
Wonderful poem, Colleen. It's funny--my daughter just told me that I use too much punctuation in my poetry! So maybe I need to learn to loosen up and let go of some of those commas and periods! :)
Posted by: Beth | October 20, 2007 10:11 AM
loved this ee....what is the controversy over the Western Art Museum Doug is referring to at Blueridge Muse.?? Did I miss that ??
Posted by: sandykessler | October 20, 2007 12:13 PM
I'm not aware of that controversy.
Posted by: colleen | October 20, 2007 12:36 PM
I really like the way it moves from one thought to another. Glad I landed up here today to read this great piece!
Posted by: gautami | October 20, 2007 11:08 PM
Poetry is older than the alphabet - Amen to that! And, I write poetry by ear too. Colleen: I absolutely ADORE this piece!
Posted by: Christine | October 21, 2007 1:54 AM
I always struggle with punctuation in poetry. When I have conferenced with some writers they have added where I wouldn't. This gives me something to reflect on. Good post!
Posted by: inlandempiregirl | October 21, 2007 2:00 AM
I love, "unplugged the dam of the period".
I often don't put any punctuation and let the line break speak for the punctuation.
Posted by: Ruth | October 21, 2007 8:56 PM
bravo!!!! who is anyone to define your art??? is not your art a definition unto itself??????
thank you for pointing this out to me... this made my day!!!!!
Posted by: paisley | November 1, 2007 12:15 PM