Posts Tagged ‘difference’
excusing the difference
On this cold and wintry day …
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When my son went to school, we often went to theatrical presentations at the school. The young people were so talented and the presentations so well executed, I often went away with the lines of a poem running through my head.
One evening performance was particularly memorable and inspiring. It was a production of Romeo and Juliet, and in this ‘version’ Rosaline was given an on-stage role. Rosaline is the character who does not appear in Shakespeare’s play but has a background role as Romeo’s first love.
The young lady who played the part of Rosaline was memorable for her costuming and her on-stage presence. She was dressed entirely in black Goth except for her hair – bright pink. I remember her soliloquy – she begged us to look past her difference and see the person within.
~
~
heroine
~
her hair
a stroke of pink
on the brown audience
~
more compelling
than the script
or the decorated stage
not surprising to see her name
on the program
~
Rose
in the part of Rosaline
~
in black but for the hair
even her lips
implore the audience
to pardon the difference
to understand
~
if only he had lived
~
she, of course, the heroic one
not Romeo
or Juliet
~
not the dead
but the left-behind
~
~
Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
nichepoetryandprose 