I'm just a little golf ball
at the toe of the t.
I'm not very big but
you must take note of me.

I'm just a little dot
(but that's not my fault)
I can still bring everything
crashing to a halt.

It's OK, but not very inspiring. I feel that having a rhyme has spoilt the spontaneity of it. I think I'll move onto something more serious next week.

Just a little dot
Like a golf ball
At the toe
Of the t
I might not be big
But I'm  <what?>
But at the <?>
I bring the whole lot
To a halt.

I'm just playing around - as you can see. It's hard to be serious about commas and full stops, isn't it?

I'm a stop.
A full stop.
Not a half stop
or a quarter stop
But a fully full stop.
I lie on the line
Waiting for the right word
To come along
And then
I trip it up.
I wait for the sentence
To run its course
Before I slip
My tiny little dot
In the way.
Like that.

That's all I've got to say today. Full stop.

NATE Conference was indeed wonderful. Ian McMillan, Francesca Beard, Kit Wright - three wonderful poets who played with words in ways that made you want to go straight to your pen and paper, or to their books, or just to share your enthusiasm with a friend...  There were many other things happening of course. Teachit was there in force and I enjoyed running a poetry workshop with a lovely and lively group of teachers. Exhausting, but worth it. So back to Monday and a final look at my comma poem. I do like this version. I'm just going to change a word here and there and mess around with the line endings.

I pause comma I falter comma I hesitate
But I can comma   like this comma   interrrupt
Quite politely and like this comma 
End lines of poetry comma 
Help when someone says
comma "Something or other comma  "
And enjoy comma   best of all comma  
helping with lists
Like shopping comma   birthday comma   things to do comma  
I can run on and on comma  
almost unnoticed comma 
But I cannot
without help
ever
stop

I pause, I falter, I hesitate
But I can, like this, interrrupt
Quite politely and like this,
End lines of poetry,
Help when someone speaks, "Something or other,"
And enjoy, best of all, helping with lists
Like shopping, birthday, things to do,
I can run on and on, almost unnoticed,
But
cannot
ever
stop

And then I wondered if it would be amusing to actually put the word 'comma' in instead of the punctuation mark. It would really only work when read aloud.  Or is this just madness?

I pause comma   I falter comma   I hesitate
But I can comma   like this comma   interrrupt
Quite politely and like this comma 
End lines of poetry comma 
Help when someone speaks comma   "Something or other comma  "
And enjoy comma   best of all comma   helping with lists
Like shopping comma   birthday comma   things to do comma  
I can run on and on comma   almost unnoticed comma 
But
cannot
ever
stop

Well, I'm off to the NATE Conference where I shall gain all sorts of creative experiences - and provide a few for others, I hope.

I pause, I falter, I hesitate
But I can, like this, interrrupt
Quite politely and like this,
End lines of poetry
And enjoy, best of all, helping
With lists like shopping, birthday, things to do,
I can run on and on, almost unnoticed,
And
cannot
ever
stop

Not bad. But the use of commas in spech could be included. Or is that being too teacherish?  I'll try and then see how it reads.

'I cannot stop' would be better at the end, surely?  Also the 'like' in line 5 sounds as if it's a bit of, like, conversation...    And how long should my list be?

I pause, I falter, I hesitate
I can though, like this, interrrupt
Quite politely and like this,
End lines of poetry
And enjoy, best of all, to help
With lists like shopping, birthday, things to do,

I think I'll change the second line to something stronger: 'But I can, like this...'    Should I avoid the two uses of 'like this' ?  I could change the second one to 'as here' but I'm not sure it's as clear.

Inspired by Roger McGough's poem 'Apostrophe', I decided to write one about a punctuation mark. (I had fun decades ago inventing a lively 'martial art' version of punctuation while I was in Singapore. I called it Pung Chua Shong and its been the cause of much over-excitment among pupils and adults at a number of literary events since then.  I see Phil Beadle has done a similar thing - I wonder if this is an example of two minds coming up with the same idea in separate places, like Darwin and Wallace. Nothing like a grand comparison.)   Anyway, I think I'll try a comma.

I pause, I falter, I cannot stop
I can though, like this, interrrupt
Quite politely and like this,
End lines of poetry
And like, best of all, to
Help with lists like shopping, - (what else?)

I can feel more ideas bubbling beneath the surface but they need a while to come to the top.