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
Poetry𝟑×𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 An assortment of poems. From personal experiences and miscellaneous musings to feelings that have long lingered in me, this book contains poems inspired by whatever comes to my mind. ❝ 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵...
