.Period
︎︎︎ Ken Kakareka
︎ June 22, 2021
.She used to start sentences
with a period
and end them
with nothing
.She was really
a quirky soul
and an experimentalist
with writing
.I admired her
a lot
.We met backstage
at a poetry gig –
we were each reading
some of our shit
at a university
.She said punctuation
is the closest thing
we’ve got
in the written language
to vocal expression
so we have to play
around with it
and see how
we can express
different emotions
and tones
as writers
.I never really
thought much
about the use of punctuation
in my writing
until I met her
.But she broadened
my horizons
.She died
in a hang-gliding accident
earlier this year
and always said
that life is meant
to be lived
as one giant
exclamation point
.Period
with a period
and end them
with nothing
.She was really
a quirky soul
and an experimentalist
with writing
.I admired her
a lot
.We met backstage
at a poetry gig –
we were each reading
some of our shit
at a university
.She said punctuation
is the closest thing
we’ve got
in the written language
to vocal expression
so we have to play
around with it
and see how
we can express
different emotions
and tones
as writers
.I never really
thought much
about the use of punctuation
in my writing
until I met her
.But she broadened
my horizons
.She died
in a hang-gliding accident
earlier this year
and always said
that life is meant
to be lived
as one giant
exclamation point
.Period
Ken Kakareka's work has been published in Lost Lake Folk Opera Magazine, Ink & Voices, Conceit Magazine, Spontaneous Spirits Magazine, DoveTales Journal, Amulet Magazine, HASH Journal, Route 7 Review, The Vital Sparks Journal, Burnt Pine Magazine, and Bluepepper. He has stuff forthcoming in Sandstorm and Gargoyle Magazine. Visit him at kenkakareka.com.