ode to the comma

de compression

the pause
allows the spring
to unwind

thoughts get down off the shelf
and lolligog all over the floor

linger,
relax,
s-t-r-e-t-c-h      o-u-t,
and be the big fat juicy worms
they are

not a hard tight wad,
a lump in the throat,
the chest,
the heart attack,
clogged artery

no, she can hang upside down
on the monkey bars,
lay spread out on the sofa
with her head in your lap
and tell you tales of her childhood

space
far wider than convention,
perhaps 30 days
between one word and the next

a comma
means rest

there's a point to it

without the pause,
the pressure hides
all these different positions

it hides the headstand,
the handstand,
the cartwheel,
jumping up and down on the bed,
diving off the high dive
and flopping down in the middle
of a mud puddle

all the joy,
the delight of
not carrying on as usual

all of
Infinity
in this endless pause

in this pause
his familiar shoe
slips in the back screen door

welcome home, Love
It's all yours,

all
yours
in
the
pause