Shadowboxing with Syntax
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| The Economist |
Shadowboxing with Syntax
I squared up to a sentence tonight—
chin tucked, comma loose in my mouthguard.
Syntax circled, light on its clauses,
jabbing with a subordinate I never saw coming.
I countered with a metaphor—wild swing, too ornate—
and kissed the canvas of my own ambition.
The crowd of blank pages roared (very quietly).
I danced on the balls of my parentheses, ducked under a dangling modifier,
let a semicolon split the round
like a diplomatic handshake between ideas that refuse to share a locker room.
We clinched in the corner—
me whispering, “flow,”
it whispering, “order.”
Its footwork was elegant, ruthless; mine was mostly enthusiasm.
By round three I was shadowboxing myself—
throwing haymakers at echoes, calling it craft.
Syntax leaned on the ropes, patient as gravity.
The bell rang—a period, decisive.
I raised my gloves to the mirror, split lip of hubris,
grinning through the grammar.
Tomorrow, we train again—
lighter on my feet, heavier on the truth.
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This poem's title is the sixth line from one of my earlier poems, that poem was made up of incomplete sentences, that somehow made great titles.
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Shared with DVerse Poets Pub for Open Link Night.
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Chris, I knew there would be a bell in there. I love all of the action going on in here. Feels like Rocky against Apollo, glove and glove.
ReplyDeleteExcellent ars poetica.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at the title , love all the word match. Training for the next poem indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe poet as a Muhammed Ali? I can cheer for that!
ReplyDeleteYour shadowboxing with syntax made me smile, Chris. My dad was a boxer, so I understood the boxing terms, and being a linguist, ex-teacher and poet, I always enjoy your ars poetica. I especially enjoyed these lines:
ReplyDelete‘Syntax circled, light on its clauses,
jabbing with a subordinate I never saw coming’
and
‘I danced on the balls of my parentheses, ducked under a dangling modifier,
let a semicolon split the round’.
I love your poetry a lot, especially those almost mechanical meta parts of it. As an IT student I also love the language a lot.
ReplyDeleteWorks so well... I wonder if we shouldn't fight with grammar in the next round.
ReplyDeleteExceptionally well done Chris 👏
ReplyDeleteWhat a glorious write, Chris! I am a huge fan of your poetry.
ReplyDelete