Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Get thee glass eyes;
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see things thou dost not."
-King Lear

Sleepiness

Sleepiness is a
Thick fog, a cloud of pea soup
Full of smog and dreams

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend
Upon thyself thy beauty's legacy?"

Panic on the Water

Panic
Sheets flapping
Shrouds thumping
Heart pounding
Wind howling
Tiller creaking
Hull tipping
Full on panic


Then

Calm
Unexpected calm which
Cools the heat of
Terror
The wind is a
Rustle
The bow is
True

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world
That has such people in't!" 

-The Tempest

Epiphany

Suddenly there's a
Moment of revelation
An epiphany

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Together with that pale, that white-faced shore,
Whose foot spurns back the ocean's roaring tides,
and coops from other lands her islanders."
-King John

Sailing

the sun was shining on the surface
glinting in the light
and all who were present had decided
it would be a beautiful night

the shrouds were billowing in the wind
the mast glistening in the sun
and all who were there in the boats
were having lots of fun

roll tack with your back to the waves
jibe around and count to ten
dip in and out of the clear blue water
then do it all over again

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"How sometimes nature will betray its folly,
Its tenderness, and make itself a pastime
To harder bosoms!"
-A Winter's Tale

Summer Bummer

Even in the depths of summer
Vacation can be a bummer
Working hard at something small
Does it even matter at all?
Sometimes it seems worse than school
What does it take for summer to be cool?

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"We are gentlemen
That neither in our hearts nor outward eyes
Envy the great nor shall the low despise."
-Pericles

Feelings shattered like
A vase which topples downward
Loneliness ensues

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Fare you well, your suit is cold."
-The Merchant of Venice

Clouds

Steel wool is the clouds
A mundane kitchen item
Adorning the skies

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is that not strange?"
-Much Ado About Nothing

Palm trees
Scraping their fronds against
The sky
Blue as the abandoned shell
Of a Robin's egg

The sky is charcoal
A slate grey which
Feasts on the weakness of people's minds
Rain spits down
In contempt
I wonder why I
Returned home

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"He that is proud, eats up himself: pride in his own glass,
his own trumpet, his own chronicle."
-Troilus and Cressida

Sand

The sand rubs between my toes
Coarse yet somehow
reassuring, it's the thing that will
Always be there
The rocks made from the
heat at the center of the
earth that were
tossed in the cool seas for
thousands of
years
Things change, they form
new and different things but
they will always be there as
Something a simple
grain of sand

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Flout 'em, and scout 'em, and scout 'em, and flout 'em;
Thought is free."
-The Tempest

Butterflies

Flurries of color
In the cool green of morning
Serendipity

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye,
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues."
-Love's Labour's Lost

Queen of the Sea

Over the waves and out of sight

There sits a woman dressed in white

Her auburn hair streams 'cross her face

While just behind her, dolphin's race

The sea can froth at the touch of her hand

And foaming horses charge the sand

She is the daughter of the moon

She is the queen of sea and dune

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"I am that very wanderer of the night"
-A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Beach

Warm sand tumbles beneath my toes
While overhead a cool wind blows
I cannot find the right words to say
How much fun I had today

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"A friend should bear his friend's infirmities."
-Julius Caesar

Excitement

excitement fills
the air like electricity
sparking and
igniting
it is the fuel of
many happy adventures to come

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee to me."

-Sonnet XLIII

Forging Ahead

This end of the year poem is dedicated to all of my dear friends who I will not see next year. I wish you all a wonderful summer and the best of luck next year. You all mean so much to me!

-Claire

behind my smile

under my face

lies tears

they sit in wait for me

ready to pounce

heartfelt goodbyes

ring in my ears

echoing in the emptiness of my heart

a new horizon

can be seen in the distance

but the daylight seems so far away

closing one door

opening a new one

excitement fills me

but so does fear

nervousness

unwillingness to let it all go

the two years I spent

walking through the halls

past orange lockers and giggling friends

am I ready to let it go? 

soon the memories will fade from

sharp and fresh to 

a golden haze

can I discover a new path through the jungle

forgoing ones that already exist?

the iron shield that 

shrouds my emotions feels

weakened

true friends give me

smiles hugs goodbye and promises

to keep in touch

this is not just a summer I am moving towards

this is forever

Can I succeed? 

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"It is held
That valour is the chiefest virtue and
Most dignifies the haver."
-Coriolanus

Inspiration from an unlikely place

Inspiration calls a
Clear trumpet blast
Crystalline
Is that the beating of a drum or just
Your heart racing to the beat
As a racehorse
Charging down the track mouth frothing eyes glistening wide open
Hooves thump down and crunch the ground
Is that the jazzy melody of a saxophone?
Straining to be heard in the dreamy city
Vying for a spot in a world of competition
Or is it another whisper on
The wind?
Can your ears pick up the
Sweet notes of a harp
The charmer, coaxing a small smile
To begin and slowly spread
Where is the music in
The barren stretch of your
Imagination?
Is it hiding in the tall grasses swaying in the
Winds of thoughts that flow through your mind
Buried beneath the rocky soil, the grubby ground?
Take up your rusty shovel which may
Cut your hands and infect your
Senses. Take up that shovel and
Begin to scrape away at the dirt
Keep digging even after your fingers start to
Bleed
Because buried somewhere in the thousands of miles under the
Earth is your
Music
The harp, the saxophone, the racehorse with his galloping feet
They are waiting

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"No more, no more! Worse than the sun in March,
This praise doth nourish agues."
--King Henry IV

Self Doubt or Being Metaphorical

Self doubt
Diving into a pool
You stand with your
Damp toes
Over the edge ready to
Dive into the
Unknown
A clammy hand grasps
Your stomach and your
Brain is under siege from
So many different angles
Your cold fingers are
Grasped behind your back and your
Limbs tingle in an eerie way
You squint your eyes and
Scrunch up your face preparing
For the final leap

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"New customs,
Though they be never so ridiculous,
Nay, let them be unmanly, yet are followed."
-King Henry VIII

Mermaid

Her hair is tangled with the tide
Salty locks rush gently in and out
In and out with the waves
Her pale fingers
Splayed on the sand
Transparent as glass
Her brilliant emerald eyes
Stare inquisitively
Her ruby lips move soundlessly
She is on the edge of her universe
Seashells dot the beach beside her
Pearls as fine as sand glitter from her body
The smells of fish and salt
Linger in the air around her
Gulls swoop over her head
They do not come close
Scales as varied as the sunset
Shine and wink from below her waist
Metallic
Yet strangely warm to the touch
Her powerful tail begins to flap
Massive strokes wash over the beach
Foam is sprayed in an arc over her head
Then she begins to inch back towards the ocean
She is going home
With one last defiant flip
Of auburn hair
She is gone
Into the waves

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"I do love
My country's good with a respect more tender,
More holy and profound."
-Coriolanus

A Teachers Teaching

My brain begins to wither away
At the sight of my text book
Why couldn't I have a mystery
To curl up with in cozy nook?

Math problems that line the board
Make me dizzy, my legs shake
When teachers teach do they realize
Just what happens to be at stake?

A poor child's future is in their hands
Shining brilliantly like the sun
Couldn't they take a little care
And make some things a tiny bit fun?

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar."

-Julius Caesar

Pirate

Her single earring gleams in the faint light
Of the cabin
Lanterns sway and the air
Is rank and
Filthy
Her shirt
Sticky with perspiration
Stiff with salt and grime
Gives off an odor
Of the sea
Her boots tell her story
Well worn
Patched and re-patched
Her eyes sear holes into yours
They are ocean
Blue and
Fierce as a lion
Her smile tells of
Excitement on the high
Seas
Adventure
For one and all

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"I know the more one sickens, the worse at ease he is; and that he wants money, means and content, is without three good friends."
-As You Like It

Summer Storm

Frothing clouds descend
Rain spits from the churning sky
 Lightning splits the night

To Keep the Earth Turning

Sometimes the world starts crashing and burning
Those are the times I feel myself yearning
Why can't the humans start some kind of learning?
That is what's needed to keep the earth turning

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"I am even
The natural fool of fortune."

-King Lear

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"To sleep, perchance to dream-
ay, there's the rub."
-Hamlet

Girl in a Corner

A girl sits there, all her cards played
Her bill for life has not been payed
The weight of the world is pressing down
On her tousled head, bringing a frown
The corner where she sits is dark
The thing she needs is one lone spark
To brighten up the awful day
When her worries came to stay

Shakespeare Qoute of the Day

"Canst thou remember A time before we came unto this cell?"
- The Tempest

Thoughts like Flies

Thoughts like flies
Swarm around my head
Following something
Is it the stench of poetry?
Wafting through the air
Like the stench of rotting fruit
Gut wrenching
Disturbing yet somehow
Addicting
Something that you cannot get away from
On the other hand
Intoxicating
Delicious
Cookies freshly baked
Bring the ants of thoughts
They are all attracted to my feelings
Those foolish things that shape my character
Also bring in doubts
Frustrations
Those are the insects
Which bring chills to my spine
And so goes the world of my mind
Foolish terrors
Imagination

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave

Who, being looked on, ducks as quickly in"

- Venus and Adonis

Laugh

A burble chuckle
A twinkling with silver
Bells bong and jangle

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Why, thy verse swells with stuff so fine and smooth
That thou art even natural in thine art."
-Timon of Athens

Sunburn

A fire on my shoulders
Red flame licks my neck
Itchiness
Rash
Lotion
Cannot soothe
I cry out
In temporary
Pain

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"When arm in arm they both came swiftly running,
Like a pair of loving turtle-doves"
-King Henry VI

Graduation

Sunshine
On a pale blue
Eggshell sky
White dresses
Red roses
Penetrate deep into my senses
Stark colors
Stand out in my vision
The simple green of the grass
Against the complex
Patterns on my skirt
Reflects my life
Simple
Yet complex
Speeches
Tug at my core
Words of love
And hope
Success
Shines bright on the horizon
Seniors
Wave
As they disappear over
The hill into
Adulthood

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"O! She doth teach the torches to burn bright!"

-Romeo and Juliet

Sleepiness

Yawn, silent gurgle

Eyes droop closed, mouth is quiet

Time to go to sleep

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie"
-All's Well That Ends Well

Sunshine

Sunlight
Through an open window you drift
Sifting through the air
A dusting
Falls onto my head
In my hair
Then
It sinks
Into my mind
Your light
Your happiness
Infuses me with energy
I rise
And walk to the window

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."- As You Like It

Goal

A crazed run
Dazedly I twist and turn
Players try to stop me
But I am a tornado
Ducking and dodging
An opportunity
A shot
And one long
Satisfying
Swish of net

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name"
-A Midsummer Night's Dream

Unspoken Word

An unspoken word
Drifting in the space between us
Waiting
You reach out your hand
Try to touch it
But the thought flits away
Too fast
Then
Stealthily
I snatch the word and grasp it
With sweaty palms
It is my prisoner
Ready to obey
My command