i am a comma

i sometimes stand in for one of the twins

when words from a past life are to be repeated

when i feel a little bit moody and out of character

i will team up with a no-nonsense full-stop

to make a hybrid statement

just for a giggle i sometimes apostrophise

and hope you notice when i shout with my hands around my mouth

“hey you giant, hellloooo, there’s something missing here!”

but,

when i am my favourite kind of me

i am the comma that adores the space

that has to happen when i happen

it could be a spectacular pause,

a space to breathe,

or just room to change your mind if you feel like it.

 

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Note: The idea behind this sketchbook project was to complete the sentence I am a [metaphor]. I made it for the Misty Mawn Make/Do Art Workshop. Also for me and my very lovely handmade book that I bought in Venice some years ago! I had two ideas. First, I am the pink thread that runs through a white dress passed on from one generation to the next. Kind of like a timeline. And second, I am a comma. The poem came so easy and then the painting just happened. I painted the girl as a comma next to the letter ‘e’. I thought that I could illustrate a comma best next to a letter. I decided to make that letter an ‘e’ because a lot of wonderful words end with an ‘e’. Words like love, hope, peace, believe and bee :)