An ellipsis: the omission from speech of a word or words that are able to be understood from contextual clues.

Kabealo, Ruksana

English

OSU Libraries Digital Journal Publishing (Ohio State University)

15Ellipsis I should say less Lay my tongue beneath the deadfall Try not to stir That’s actually the conclusion I drew the other night As I watched your focus slip away Wandering eyes, wondering when I’d stop talking So you could say something Anything  I, like every other woman in my life, have made the tragic mistake of thinking I had something worth saying I, like every other woman in my life, have settled For distracted nods and cheap validation During commercials and red lights You are a vacuum of thought Of parroted late-night monologues and incidents given no context Anecdotes that only ever begin and memories that aren’t yours You are unreceptive to anything from me that doesn’t set up a punchline But jokes are forgettable when they aren’t funny And it’s become harder for me to be funny You write all of our storieswhich all end the same way: the way you intendedUnchanged by verbiage or concision on my partI’m a supporting character in our livesOnly here to laugh when desired, comfort, and to agree that you’re the victim You feed me lines And I let you Until nowI’m done with pretendingthat your words are somehow more important than minethat I’d rather hear you tell it than me that if I loved you, I’d let it go this time Consider this me breaking character —Ruksana Kabealo

Ellipsis

https://library.osu.edu/ojs/index.php/cr/article/download/6196/5041

Ellipsis

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OSU Libraries Digital Journal Publishing (Ohio State University)