A tail with a large head, the apostrophe -
Oh, the use of the dot'ntail larva baffles me!
Between two nouns, the former is possessor
And the latter, possessed, belonging as lesser
"Siss" (hissing and sassing) being rude and derogatory
Is never doubled - The S after it, is not compulsory
On words ending on -s (for whatever reason)
Like Jesus' words, Moses' law and Johannes' bliss,
Laertes' time and Croesus' kiss, ther's no extra "es"
"For goodness' sake" would hiss if spelt goodness's
And goodness, being kind, deserves no snub, you see!
Plurals (mostly ending on -s) are polite and hiss-free:
One boy'S food (or girl) is MANY BOYS' poison!
But when an extra ES is HEARD, as in Ross's girl
Jess's bridle or James's curl.... it... does spit a bit
To fitm as most singulars and s-less plurals get that 'S
If the possessor is alive and want to possess.
An inanimate possessor is silly indeed
How can you own if you do not think?
so if you are very sharp you will never say,
The hay's stack, but the stack OF HAY
the cast's shape but the shape OF THE CAST!
Now the possessor, being dead, is least and last -
Boy, I apostrophe m (I'm) learning fast!
This role of covering the bunking A -
A good friend will roll call in his stead with a yea!
We see it in mightn't, mayn't and I can't
We slept in an 'otel and you'll see if I shan't!
And then the real clincher, making the dot'ntail
A real nut cracker - not plain to sail!
If, in literature, poetry and prose,
You talk to a subject as if it's real close,
Animate and right in front of your nose,
For instance: Grave, where is thy sting?
Death, be not proud, Wind, whistle and sing!
Apostrophe, you are one difficult thing!
Yes, this direct address is calles apostrophe....
Which aptrly rhymes with catastrophe!
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