Interrogative intonation <br />Drives me up the wall, <br />Apart from valid questioning <br />It shouldn't be used at all; <br />I hear it almost every sentence, <br />It's getting worse and worse <br />This blight upon our language, <br />It really is a curse. <br /> <br />I'm at the stage where sometimes <br />I hear it when it's not there, <br />That near impending rise in tone <br />From mouths that have no care; <br />From where comes this insistent <br />Verbal impropriety <br />That's said to be a sign <br />Of rampant insecurity? <br /> <br />I know not, nor do really care <br />I just wish it's use would cease, <br />Then I'd regain my sanity <br />And get some longed for peace. <br /> <br />And so if you are guilty too <br />Of practising this tone, <br />This oral detestation <br />That's causing me to moan, <br />Please spare a thought for others <br />Who cannot stand the sound of <br />Interrogative intonation <br />By which your mouth is bound; <br /> <br />Give up this strange expression <br />So carelessly applied, <br />Return now to your senses <br />And cast the thing aside, <br />Because my friend this habit <br />Is to English no enhancer, and <br />If every line's a question <br />Then there'll never be an answer. <br /> <br />(Written Sept 2013)<br /><br />John Carter Brown<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/interrogative-intonation/
