A Tragic Tale, No More
*Written for an AP contest in which the theme was to write
an alternate ending for a favorite book, poem etc.
Shakespeare's quill gave Romeo and Juliet a tragic ending
but that's a sad love story I think needs a bit of mending.
Yes, he's the Bard, but quite frankly it broke my heart
to learn they both died needlessly. I hated that part.
In my rewritten dialogue between them, I'd find a way
to change their ill-fated future and have Juliet say,
"Romeo, it's only for you that my heart will ere yearn.
I will simply fake my death and when our families learn
that we've left Verona, we will be married... man and wife
and be together as we have planned, happy with life."
The messenger she sent to give Romeo the good news,
I'd replace with a more diligent one that I would choose.
I'd have made the couple more intelligent and shrewd,
perhaps put an end to the Montague and Capulet feud.
The tale of star-crossed lovers would end on a happy note,
without Juliet seeming to have died. No need for an antidote.
When Juliet says, "Romeo. Romeo. Wherefore art thou?"
He would come to her on the balcony, and he would vow...
"Juliet, I swear, never did my heart love until now.
For I never saw true beauty til this night,
and if perchance our families had forbidden us to wed,
from Verona we would've left. From Italy we would've fled."
*With apologies to Shakespeare, my edit I would offer,
not a penny nor one Euro would I take for my coffer.
Indulge me for just a moment for I'm a romantic at heart,
and dared alter the ending by not keeping the couple apart.
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