Hello there, person with a pen,
It is I, the humble hyphen.
"Aren't you a dash?"
Those are my brethren
em and en.
I'm a hyphen.
Don't be mistaken.
"What's the difference?"
Well, you see,
you use me
for numbers like twenty-three.
As for ranges
like 5–10 pages
that is when
you use en.
For inserting extra deets
instead of parentheses
(not brackets; things like these)
use em dashes—if you please.
Unless you're British.
Then in your case
use ens with spaces
in those places.
"Oh, so you're a tiny dash."
Let me sigh in pain
as I once again explain
(to your tiny brain)
that we're not the same.
Though we may be siblings
we're different things
with different meanings.
You can use hyphens for joining names
like Jean-Marie or Frank-James
and for sticking words together
like nine-year-old or ruby-red flower.
You also use me when you st-st-stammer.
Use en for scores
like 1–9 or 5–4
or for getting from A to B
or for London–NYC.
If you want to get dramatic
here's a trick:
use em to change the thought train
like—wait, where was I again?
"So you're a hyphen."
Thank heavens!
Looks like this dimwit
has finally got it.
Unlike em and en,
I'm not a dash, but a hyphen.
Don't ever be mistaken.
(Lest I subject you moron
to my cousin, semicolon.)
YOU ARE READING
from the depths of my mind, they flutter free
Poetry𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 @𝐂𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 An assortment of poems. From personal experiences and miscellaneous musings to feelings that have long lingered in me, this book contains poems insp...
