I received the idea for this poem while in the shower one morning. I have a shower radio and a song came on that said "I'll be your Romeo in black jeans." And I thought to myself..."Hmmm not a bad thought." And some where around that same time I watched "Tristan and Isolde" with my brother. I just noticed that in all those stories about love (or lust) the male character has some "fatal flaw." I'm a really big romantic and I always sigh during those sorts of stories, and wish that I had a Mr. Darcy. But once you think about it, really, those love stories and interests are sorta messed up. This took a lot of revision because I have a problem with the "show don't tell" concept of poems. So my brother--who's an awesome writer--and my old creative writing/English/Lit Mag advisor helped me out.( You won't be able to get some of the emphasis since blogger is wierd and won't let me italicize and tab over. Sorry about that.)
Be a Romeo in blue jeans,
not a de Bergerac
(without the nose)
or a Darcy too shy
to show true feelings
Do not be a Rochester
and play with emotions
Be more faithful than Hamlet
and Othello,
have Heathcliff’s chivalry
Possess Tristan’s tenderness
be like Orpheus and
persevere to the end
Just combine all into one
and --
On second thought, Don’t --
Romeo and Tristan were
too impulsive
and lost their loves,
their lives
Heathcliff’s vanity left
much to be desired
Without Orpheus’s overeagerness
she would have survived
Every Classic Love has flaws.
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