We all want to belong
to someone, something,
sometime,
and the deft eyewink of
the apostrophe affirms
connection:
the girl’s notebook
the girls’ soccer team
the boy’s piano
the boys’ campout
the art of belonging to one
or more than one.
But it’s more than that:
A bit of magic lies in
morphing two words
into one,
forming a contraction
that twines letters
into a new form,
bringing them closer,
like birds on a wire,
giving them a kind
of belonging they’d
never have had
alone.
Without that bit of
punctuational
confetti,
I’d not be me;
you’d not be you,
we who’ve loved
each other into
us.
2/13/23, for Dick Schmidt’s 80th birthday
Güd wrtr 
Love this, Jan! Such a deft weaving. And Happy 80th birthday to your sweetie who is anything but an “old goat.”
I recognize the old goat!
And best wishes for a happy Birthday to the GOAT!!!!
And best wishes to the GOAT!!!!
OK, I forget.
Dar
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