A Letter on Behalf of Ampersand
Dearest teachers & assistants,
Please adhere to this insistence.It’s our mission to petition –
for its overdue admission:
alphabetical addition
of the letter Ampersand.Though it neatly nestles nicely
‘twixt the “Y & Z” precisely,
and has a certain function
as a substitute conjunction,
we confess with calm compunction,
it’s abused as merely “and”.We believe we have a duty
to this hieroglyphic beauty.
Let its usage be expanded:
written right- or leftward-handed,
“a – n – d” is ampersanded!
That’s our solemn, sole demand.Think of effort we’d be saving
giving sentences a shaving,
making phrases much less “and”-y
& a lot more ampersandy
adding simple, shortened candy
to the words we write by hand.With accelerated fleetness
we’d complete with nimble neatness
every note or memorandum —
spelling wouldn’t seem as random —
with the ampersand in tandem
at our everyday command.With respect, we share our letter
for this character that’s better.Signed sincerely by
Am&a,
Br&on,
&rew,
Alless&ra,
R&al,
C&ace,
& Mir&a
on behalf of Ampersand.
Friends and readers, I am honored to announce that I was the winner of this year’s March Madness poetry competition at Think, Kid, Think! This poem, starting with the word “Ampersand” and with a mere thirty-six hours, was my championship round entry. Thank you to all of my fans and supporters! Go read the comments and see my challenger’s amazing poem and get ready for next competition in 2015!
