The following sonnets were inspired by a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and were written on stage during a performance, inspired by scenes and lines from the script.
Music
The music in the air now is so sweet
As sweet as flowers blooming in a wood
To hear a sound like this is such a treat
Because the feel of it is just so good
As melodies play on into the world
The harmonies and rhythms find their tunes
As dancers always have leaped up and twirled
And song has swept across the lake from loons
Music sweeps its way around the globe
Into the hearts and souls of those who hear
Be it bow o’er strings or horn that’s blown
The sound in people’s ears is much healed dear
No matter how or where it’s played or heard
The music on this earth is always learned
Character
To be someone you never dreamed you’d be
A person unlike who you were before
Someone like you never thought you’d see
Perhaps something from some forgotten lore
The elements to add are lots and few
There’s costumes, makeup, song and dance, and light
But most importantly it’s what’s in you
How much you hone the character is bright
In the end, it’s how much you take on
What’s inside that has will to give away
Become a character for times then gone
But come to stage before and therefore play
While these times will come and go so fast
The memories of the time will always last
Crazy
What is it that defines what we call crazy?
’Tis something that we may not understand?
What right have we to lay the label heresy
On people we don’t get who walk our land?
They that do things different than the rest
Who don’t always conform with other’s views
It may be them that truly are the best
Who do not go along with the old news
Perhaps what we call crazy means misunderstood
In what they wear and eat and how they look
Being crazy may be truly good
Because it does not come straight from the book
Crazy just means different, that’s not bad
It may mean to have adventures not yet had
Love
Love takes shape in many different ways
Perhaps through poetry or feel or song
Sometimes the way it happens is a haze
But be aware that love always belongs
It may be just a touch or glance to start
But more can grow from such a simple thing
’Tis hard to understand affairs of heart
As, unlike music, it’s a silent ring
No matter how it starts or what it does
Love grow much faster than a flower bed
And even if there never is a rose
The love is there, and only that is stead
There really is not any greater power
That that which sometimes is expressed with flowers
My favorites were “Crazy” and “Loved”. Both express something that is said from the heart and things that need to be acknowledged in different ways. Thanks, Arden!