Read Poem: SEVEN FULL STOPS, by Bethany Rivers

Some people speak with no
full stops and they build half
walled mazes with crashing paths
never finishing
a sentence or

When my father completed
his full stop I learnt
how to change it
into an ellipsis or a dash…
ignoring
the question mark,
hanging on to the comma –

Jack used full stops
but would erase
them as soon as they hit
the page
I never knew
which statements were true
at any given time

Virginia Woolf sentences seem to run as far as possible
for as long as possible with as many phrases as can
possibly be daisy-linked together before eventually
finally
arriving at that longed for
full stop

If I was a full stop I would be
pink on Mondays and blue
on Sundays
I keep trying to full stop but
the comma keeps
lending its tail

Perhaps the full stop is nothing
but a beautiful
mesmerising circle

Earth sun moon
endlessly full
never stopping

by Bethany Rivers
Published in ‘the sea refuses no river’ by Fly on the Wall Press (2019)

Author: poetryfest

Submit your Poetry to the Festival. Three Options: 1) To post. 2) To have performed by an actor 3) To be made into a film. View all posts by poetryfest