Their Dismembered Remains

Pigeons strutted happily among their dismembered remains.

[Ghost of a Flea, by James Sallis, p. 101.]
The meaning is assisted, somewhat, by the preceding sentences:

I'd gone across for coffee and doughnuts…. We'd both wisely foregone the doughnuts after tasting them. Pigeons strutted happily….

I'd say it makes a strong case for using the semi-colon.

Posted on March 21, 2005 at 00.02 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Such Language!

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