Shakespeare Returns
this place... Weymouth - a small tranquil village!
How far is my Stratford from here?
my Stratford-on-Avon!
The Shangri-la of a dramatist's imagination!
Assuming, I had a very very long slumber…
the world has completely changed!
This area looks so distant from my London,
the hypnotic city I used to know..
where the theatres played my “Romeo and Juliet”, or “Macbeth”!
made people fall hopelessly in love,
Or shudder in horror!
Queen loved watching Juliet’s balcony scenes..
She was also captivated by the battle scenes of the two
rival families - Montagues, and Capulets!
I am sure she preferred watching my plays
rather than Marlowe’s Tamburlaine or Dr. Faustus!
I was the Queen’s favourite bard…
watching my plays at “Globe” - her passion
and only diversion from the royal court,
and intriguing politics!"Hamlet",
the calamitous story of the miserable Prince -
heart-rending to the audience!
This pastoral placid, Weymouth, seems very peaceful ,
do people seeking harmony live here?
The far-reaching sea-beach is an attraction to the tourists …
People bring their cute puppies to play “catch”!
some swimmers don't care about the freezing water!
Does anyone read my plays any longer,
or even recognize my name! "Shakespeare! Who!"
or only Oxford University scholars interested
in those literature - deemed as classics!
How about I write a story about present-day London!
crazy London... a different kind of hysteria nowadays!
I find some musicals still being played in theatres!
"Le Miserables"...sounds like it's about the historic revolution..
must be very popular...running for years and years!
This life is so unconventional from the era of
Elizabeth 1!
girls are not dainty delicate Juliets any more…
boys are hardly passionate romantics at heart!
they date whoever they want to…
families don't dictate them.
they date online..no secret concealed balcony appears in view,
or benignant nurses to encourage rendezvous of two adoring souls,
no more of those provocative ballroom dances
wearing seductive Venetian masks,
It would be fascinating if I wrote a new play
about the love-story of a modern-day Romeo and Juliet,
which doesn't end in an agonizing tragedy!
They don't drink a potion, sacrifice their life,
or die for their beloved, in the end.
They would rather run away to Mexico!
What would be the title of my play portraying England in 2023!
"Shakespeare Returns"!
January 12, 2023
For "Shakespeare in 2023" Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Anoucheka Gangabissoon
Copyright ©
Malabika Ray Choudhury
|