PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

This is a very unique poem.  Is this a dialogue between Romeo and Juliet?  I thought at first it was spoken by Romeo, but the last stanza made me doubt that.  I must be having one of my "old man" moments.  For a long time, I have thought that Juliet was the wiser, or---if one prefers---shrewder, of the two.  In spring of 1973, in High School freshman English, our teacher---following one of the crazy education trends of the early seventies---arranged for our class to do a reading aloud (not a full stage performance with memorization) of the play, which, of for us, was a brand new experience (both of the text and of the method).  Part of the crazy trend was to reverse the gender roles---so that I selected to read the part of Juliet (and my chief rival in the class of 76, since kindergarten and right up to and beyond graduation day) was selected to read Romeo.  All of us were expected to study, as homework, our characters' parts to be read the next day.  I was amazed at how active, rather than passive, Juliet is as a chief character.  She is not at a naive, although she pretends to be when it suits her purpose.  I have not read nearly as much of Shakespeare as I should have, but comparing the amount I have read, I think Juliet (no, not Hamlet, not Macbeth, and not Miranda)  is his greatest dramatic creation.  Thank you for posting this poem, and for reminding me, through it, of my previous (and long ago!) experience with the ever fascinating Juliet.