Skip to main content

11th December 2025

Today we've got a poem for you, it's by Adam's father Kenn, and it is called Ampersand.


I get lots of cards at Christmas from Relatives and Friends.
They start around December First, the blizzard never ends.
Some come from individuals, like those who live alone.
But with those who send from more than one, I’d like to pick a bone.

They’ll write “From John and Janet” or maybe “Jack and Jill”,
It’s sometimes “Fred and Family” or even “Liz and Phil”.
But instead of writing A. N. D. to spell the short word “AND”
They do a little squiggle and pretend it’s “Ampersand”.

I’ve already had a few this year, they’re hanging on the wall.
Some of them look like an 8 and the rest, nothing-at-all,
One or two look like a lower-case E or a C that’s been turned round,
Or a Number 3 with a line through it, are among those that I’ve found.

I don’t object so strongly, but don’t you think you should
Get round to doing it properly? I’m certain that you could.
Remember all you need to do is start on the far right,
Then let your pen make the figure 8, It won’t take you all night.

If you straighten out the last curve, (the difference is fine)
Then cross the intersection to finish on the line.
And for those of you with children, why not give them a hand,
By teaching them not just Alphabets; but also Ampersand?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Advent Calendar 2025

1st December 2025

Hello! We've sort of lost count, but think the first Advent Calendar was back in 2003, the Internet Archive Wayback Machine says it looked like this: Of course all the links are dead, but the thing it has in common with this year's is that it is still coded in HTML, probably the last thing I will ever rely on coding for. Now it looks like this: Happy Advent! We have gone for the Bonne Maman JAM Calendar again this year, after leaving it too late last year and it selling out at both Fenwick and Selfridges! We get a fresh pot of jam every day to enjoy with our tartines and Ovomaltines. We also have the Domino's "Merry Crustmas" leaflet, and a MUJI calendar we'll show you later in the month. Do let us know what you are opening every day! You can leave a message below, or email us your ideas and suggestions for future days at robotmaths@outlook.com Have a great day!