Omigosh! Poetry about... about Grammar. I am totally having a geekgasm now.

The Return of the Subjunctive

by Tamara Madison,

Oh, the Subjunctive,

May it make its bold return!

May it ride back proud

In liveried coach,

May its two fine horses snort

And paw the ground,

And, escorted by its staunch

Attendants If and Whether,

May it descend in velvet cloak

And black-gloved hand

The lacquered steps of hope

And happenstance.

May it fix upon us its deep

Uncertain gaze!

I shall be there to greet it

Though my company

Be small and moody.

I shall beg it stay

And may its presence give

Some respite from the steely glare

Of Indicative, a mantle to shield us

From Passive's clammy chill.

May it light again the land

Between the world that was

And is, and that which still might be,

And may we tread again desire's

Leaf-dappled path

Of possibility.


"The Return of the Subjunctive" by Tamara Madison, from Wild Domestic. © Pearl Editions, 2011