This is the story of my Juliet;
Of her Montague and his Capulet.
Roses smell sweet with no care of their name,
But with “Montague”, this just isn’t the same.
As a cruel joke, fate bonded their hearts,
For fate knew too well that they’d be torn apart;
Torn apart like the brawling in the public square,
Where Montagues and Capulets disagreed there.
I am the one whom Romeo loved,
Before he’d first seen his Capulet dove.
It happened quite fast, and inside the year,
We were something akin to the three musketeers.
We knew if the secretive lovers were caught,
They’d both be destroyed; impaled on the spot.
So I covered for them, and I helped them along,
And I did my best to sing over their song.
I witnessed the wedding, the friar’s compliance
In hopes that the families would form an alliance.
And while I had my doubts, I kept my lips sealed;
I allowed them to hope the tooth fairy was real.
Soon after that, I was with Romeo and his friend,
When Tybalt came along and caused Mercutio’s end.
I ran after Romeo, begging “Please! Use your head!”
But it was to no avail, and soon Tybalt was dead.
So Romeo was banished, and I sat with his wife;
I comforted her as she wept of her strife.
She was almost alright, but fate slipped on its gloves,
And she was betrothed to a man she couldn’t love.
Three times, I convinced her to put down her knife;
“You can do this, Capulet, don’t you take your own life!”
I spoke with the friar, and he had not a clue,
Till I formed a plan and a mysterious brew.
I sent a letter to Romeo, warning him of her sleep,
And so Juliet drank into slumber most deep.
Two days went past, then I felt my heart stop-
My letter had been returned, and Romeo’s address dropped.
I tripped a few times as I sprinted towards her grave,
All the while howling out Romeo’s name.
I leapt across ditches, I dashed around trees,
And I fount Montague, fallen to his knees.
“She is pure beauty, even in her death,”
Said Romeo as he took his last breath.
I lunged, and I screamed until my throat bled,
But bleed as I might, Romeo was now dead.
Juliet yawned, and it turned into a cry,
As the sight of his body burned into her eyes.
I stood up, hands shaking, and reached out to my friend,
But I knew this was a wound my soft words couldn’t mend.
“Juliet, don’t,” I pleaded weakly.
She shook her head sadly, said “I’m sorry, Rosaline.”
I held her small frame, and I felt her depart,
As she drove her own blade into her broken heart.
Montagues and Capulets sat together that day,
And they mourned their children and regretted their hate.
I stood up, though it pained me, and they looked distressed
At Juliet’s blood that soaked through my dress.
“This is your fault!” I yelled hoarsely at the lords.
“You ran your own children through with your swords!
If you are so noble, ordained from above,
How could you destroy their lives and their love!?”
“Don’t you dare let their sacrifices end in vain!
They were my friends, and they died so you’d change!
I hope you make peace, because your bigotry
Took Romeo and Juliet away from me!”
So it was, that the families have since lived in harmony,
But that is something that now hardly matters to me.
A rose by any name would still smell as sweet,
But if “Montague” was different…
This would not be a tragedy…