# The Grammar of the World – a poem for #GrammarDay
**URL:** https://www.infiniteconversations.com/t/the-grammar-of-the-world-a-poem-for-grammarday/6066
**Category:** Commons
**Tags:** poetry, editing, grammar
**Created:** [March 4, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://www.infiniteconversations.com/t/the-grammar-of-the-world-a-poem-for-grammarday/6066 "2024-03-04T19:45:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@madrush](https://www.infiniteconversations.com/u/madrush)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://www.infiniteconversations.com/t/the-grammar-of-the-world-a-poem-for-grammarday/6066/1 "2024-03-04T19:45:12Z")
So, I recently learned that today, March 4th, is considered National Grammar Day. Why? Because, according to [ACES: the Society for Editing](https://aceseditors.org):
> it is a complete and grammatically correct sentence when written “March forth.” As in, “March forth and celebrate National Grammar Day.”
So, for this admittedly flimsy reason, and because of a recent social interaction I had been thinking about, and for kicks, I woke up yesterday and wrote a poem for the ACES annual [Grammar Day poetry contest](https://aceseditors.org/news/2024/announcing-aces-annual-poetry-contest-in-honor-of-national-grammar-day)—hoping I might win and gain some attention for our journal and books.
I can’t remember the last time, or if I’ve ever, submitted a poem to a contest, and I wouldn’t say it’s my best poem ever, but so what. @eebyrne00, @marythaler, @Lisa—fellow editing geeks—you might like this.
* * *
# The Grammar of the World
The grammar of the world
runs deep—deep as a grand river,
deeper than you’d think…
Take inter- (or intra-)
national relations, or
human relations, for example.
On [Mastodon](https://social.coop/@ntnsndr/112026948912782623), @ntnsdnr writes:
“So ‘US-Mexico border:’ dash or
en-dash?” To which I reply in jest,
Suggest the _tilde_ (~)
which also goes above the _ñ_
(pronounced “en-yay”)—
One of my favorite little
marks. The “US~Mexico border”
—why not? I tag @grammargirl,
Who cites Chicago: _US-Canada_
_relations._ “You’d use a hyphen
there.” Certainly not an em-dash,
Definitely not a _pipe_ (|)—which is
not just a pipe—either tunneled
or erected, I think.
And yet, stickler that I otherwise
am, and despite a hyphenated
identity, I would dash across these
Borders, I would swim across
those waters… like a squiggly line,
like a wave of sound or light.
---
### Author:  [@Lisa](https://www.infiniteconversations.com/u/Lisa)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://www.infiniteconversations.com/t/the-grammar-of-the-world-a-poem-for-grammarday/6066/2 "2024-03-05T06:56:53Z")
Very fun, @madrush
G-d, we need more fun in this crazy world 😊
---
### Author:  [@marythaler](https://www.infiniteconversations.com/u/marythaler)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://www.infiniteconversations.com/t/the-grammar-of-the-world-a-poem-for-grammarday/6066/3 "2024-03-05T21:06:06Z")
Loved how this developed through the different kinds of punctuation. I didn’t expect to feel moved, but I did!
As a proofread I have to point out that @grammargirl is wrong, and it it neither an em-dash nor a hyphen, but an en-dash (the medium length), which implies relationships without subordination and numerical ranges among other things.