Punctuation
by Kristy Alinoski
I had the strangest thought tonight.
What if I let the letters and words and punctuation save me?
What if capital letters and apostrophes could heal me?
I could pick up my needle and thread and stitch myself back together again.
A semi-colon in some of the holes will hold the pieces together.
Maybe quotations around my heart like bookends will keep the tiny bits from falling apart.
I’ll crawl into the deep corner of my mind and sew a period there,
Something to put an end to all my dark thoughts.
I can put an exclamation point in my mouth so exciting things can come out
And maybe a comma to link my head and heart,
So they can consult each other more often.
Maybe I can fix myself with letters and words and punctuation.
Maybe I can put myself back together again.
Maybe I’ve already started.