Pünctüosophy

	For Christian Bök

the beady eyes of the ümlaut smile
from an otherwise drab page • fronting
and roünding, they draw my own eyes into
their marionette gaze • popping in and oüt
like so many curious woodland creatüres • 

all hail mighty macrōn • leader of lesser
punctuation • the frightening unibrōw
overgrowing hidden eyes • lōng and heavy
plank abōve letters • ageless and timeless
and ruling with an irōn fist •

around the corner, the circumflêx • êyêbrows
chevroned • wêak • turned inward and upward
in confusion • the duncêcap, antiquated and
obsolete •hopelessly lost among hêaps
of othêr lost marks • 

the comically tiny circus håt • overlooked
and unnecessary • nåme unknown • causing
more confusion than it is worth • å dying
breed, hiding out in Norwåy • seeking asylum
from macrōn’s råge • 

infiñity without the opposing curves • the
tilde stretches over her territory • lyiñg on
her side, the debutañte reclines on a chaise
lounge • waiting for her Spañish priñce •
figure eight defeated ∞

*Originally published in National University’s GNU literary journal, Spring Summer 2017 edition.