28,000 Ampersands
do you know what wakes me in the night:
the swell & diminshment
of the ocean of my life
its 28,00 days filled
with the motion of bliss & duty
the despair 0f divorce &
the ecstacy of our first kiss
how bad I’ve been & how good
you dare ask what happiness is:
the English alphabet use to end
with an ampresand
x, y, z, and “&”
we use letters to make words
words to make sentences
sentences to complete thoughts
there’s always more
how can we just end with z,
happiness is like that,
accepting that everything
contains its opposite
the easy & the hard
the start & the finish
the good & the bad
&…..
8 thoughts on "28,000 Ampersands"
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
love how “the swell & diminshment
of the ocean of my life” is carried in ampersands.
love: the easy & the hard
the start & the finish
the good & the bad
&…..
I am very partial to ampersands. I wasn’t able break through to another level until I started using them, mostly. Thanks for this wonderful poem.
Honoring the ampersand! Yes, why just stop – let happiness and life roll!
Wonderful, Jim! I now love how the ampersand looks on the page, how it makes poems seem (to me anyway) more approachable. But I must thank Linda Bryant for this late conversion. I pretty much stole it from her.
Wow, Jim. So much here.
Felt the emotional tide rolling in to carry me out to sea. Deeply thought out, start to (almost) finish.
And that close from title is perfection.
I love this ode to &. My favorite lines: how can we just end with z,/happiness is like that,/accepting that everything/contains its opposite…”
Brilliant! A creative twist on the ampersand, into life!
Yes & yes & yes to this poem.