Thursday, May 08, 2014

1. To Be Or Not


Witness to what disappears
as though finally even life is
a burden and each breath
cascades across the rocks
of unchangeable past —

and to wait for stone to
morph into sand is too long
too hard and harsh
too like all that life ever was —

a topography of thorns
of crevices and not scaled
heights — the forever cower
from effort that is too
intense — too dear for youth

and with age impossible.




  The challenge for May, now that cruel April has gone, is to write twelve poems which originate, in one way or another, from the works of William Shakespeare.  Where do Bill's words take you in this modern word of tweet and twerp?  How do they define where you are in life?  Are they for all ages, or just for one?  This first attempt comes from Hamlet.  Does the procrastination of youth exact a price in old age?

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