I can't use em dashes anymore—

I can't use em dashes anymore—

otherwise I'm AI.

No matter that writers

have been using em and en dashes

since their literal creation—

none of that matters anymore—

humans are too poorly educated

to even decipher a hyphen.

I must be a bot—

no one else says things the way I say them.

Either I'm far too eloquent—

or I just don't sound human.

But I can't really be surprised—

people have seen me as other

since I can remember.

I'd swear to you I'm real—

if only I were sure.

Maybe one day

I can em dash away—

you'd probably think it was AI anyway.