“Letters from the Future” was a contest on FS
A short flash story, which is fun to do;
Instructions said, it “must be fiction”, and that made me laugh;
“Non-fiction from the future” is an oxymoron, true?
Please, I am not critical, just tickled at the phrase,
I understand what “they” were getting at;
Good grief! I just did what I hate that other people do,
Put “at” at sentence end; imagine that!
I’ll have to say, in that context, it didn’t sound so bad
In fact, it didn’t sound so bad, at all;
There must be some exceptions to the rule (of course there must)
Or my big mouth is headed for a fall.
For instance, if you’re shown a thing, and you are mystified
And you say, “Wow, that’s neat. What is it for?”
How else to ask the question? “For what is it?” sounds contrived,
Speaking English shouldn’t be a chore.
Because it is our language, and a pretty one, I think,
We all should do our best to keep it so;
And just because somebody says it’s fine to end with “at,”
That doesn’t make it proper, (sigh) and so…
I’ve given it some thought and here’s what I have come up with
Although I’m pretty sure that no one really gives a fig,
I’ve prob’ly put you all to sleep for making things so small
Appear to be important and so big. But…
I think a preposition is like wearing shoes or not,
Sometime it’s necessary protocol;
But other times, like at the beach, where it is very hot
It’s either flip-flops or no shoes at all.
And so, I guess with prepositions, I am on the fence
With some accepted use, I’m in denial;
I’ll compromise if sentence-ending with a “prep” makes sense
And if “at” is used properly, I’ll smile.
I’ve worn the subject down to a most irritating nub.
And thankfully, on this, I’ll end my rant;
Tomorrow I will do my best to better use your time
And then again, there is the chance I shan’t.
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Author Notes
I really do apologize for this one.
I've been planting all day, trying to replace all the dead from the horrible unexpected freeze several weeks ago, and I was listening to the news while fixing supper and the newscaster said, "and that's where we're at," and that set me off. However...
I not only promise to drop the "at" business, but hopefully, my subject matter will be more interesting. Anyway, I'll do my best. Promise.
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