Poem by Michelle Cameron

SHAKESPEARE DISCARDED


 

Flinging me aside
like last year’s fashions,
she says she tires of my sighs,
my whispers, my importuning,
my sonnets,
my love.

Her laugh a silvery tinkle,
now cold and clanging,
freezing the blood
that still throbs
and pools at the sight
of her.

She tells me our passion
was never more than dalliance,
smiles through rouged lips
that I -- yokel, hireling,
ink-stained lackey --
might aspire to more
than a few privileged nights.

I see her, putting that small hand
through Southampton’s arm
as he leads her to dance.

I want to close my eyes,
blot out sight of her -- and him.
But, somehow, my lids refuse me,
become fiery prongs of torture,
making me watch,
unblinking, red-rimmed,
seared.

§ § §

Michelle Cameron's poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in several electronic publications, including Riding the Meridian; 2River View; Samsara Quarterly; Stirring; The Paumanok Review; jerseyworks; and flashquake. Print and anthology credits include poetry in Lilith; LIPS; Uno; Midnight Mind; and The Paterson Literary Review.

Her poems were selected as "Editor’s Choice" in the 2002 Allen Ginsberg Contest, and Best of Stirring Year Three.

Michelle's first full-length book of poetry, "In the Shadow of the Globe" will be published by Lit Pot Press, Inc. in December, 2003, as part of the Literary Potpourri Poetry Series.

She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons, and has a day job as Creative Director for an Internet company. More of Michelle's work can be seen on her web site at http://www.noretreat.org/mec/

GO TO NEXT PAGE