Disclaimer: I do not own Shakespeare's plot or characters, only a simple imagination that twisted the story into a seemingly origninal poem of my own.

ESCALUS'TRAGIC TALE

Being Prince Escalus,

It was my duty to keep beautiful Verona in peace.

But the two families Montague and Capulet

Took up positions of providence

And decided the fate of Verona.

An untimely fight broke the peace,

And thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets

So there I went to balance the scale

To bring a firm halt to an ancient feud.

Therefore I set about the laws,

Gave choices that were fair

And warned the families:

"If ever you disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay forfeit of the peace,"

And my work seemed accomplished

Or so I thought.

Then in surreptitiousness

There was performed a matrimony

That should have been good

Yet was the beginning of an end.

Such happiness was temporary

For the next circumstances

Would detail the fate of lives

And tell another tale.

Mere hours later

There came about the death

Of one with my own blood,

A dear friend and kinsman Mercutio

Killed by the hands of a Capulet

Whom did a Montague then avenge.

It was pity that stayed my hand

And unexpected conditions

That left me in a quandary

And by chance

Saved young Romeo's life

But banished him from Verona.

Hither I lamented within

At my loss and that of Verona

Perhaps the dispute would end

With the light punishment

Perhaps the people would see

The falsehood of their differences

And the futile behaviour would cease.

Yet somewhere along the line

Fate intervened

My mercy was fruitless

He did not leave

He came back for more

Or so it seemed

To rid all happiness

Or what was left of happiness.

We were oblivious to the secret cause

The secret passion of two young loves

Would have the families known

Would it have made a difference?

But it seems unlikely

For was not Juliet to be married another?

To destroy her plans of love and life

To cause grief due to lust

And desire for power and name

Desire to be superior

Better than the other

Was that of the families gain.

Such selfishness and callousness

Such hopeless wishes and secrets

Such as to cause a deadly end

Such an end was the deaths.

But then to find out they had not been alone

A Friar Lawrence was of aid

One of the powers of God

Who should know not to meddle

Or change the wishes of the Lord

Should help those who are erroneous

Who would oppose my wishes.

Yet his mind was of a healthy state

When he gave the poison and wrote the letter,

To bring Romeo back to save his love

From the grave she lay peacefully.

Oh misfortune should bring her back

At such untimely hour!

To see Romeo dead by his own hand

And to follow his awful cowardice

And let mischance be slave to patience.

Then should I but question the Friar

Only to learn the truth of the story

And be left in gracelessness

To watch and wait for both parties

To come together and finally unite

In sadness and in surrender

To the immutable actions of destiny.

Such actions of which a prince has no say.

So many deaths, as at the sinister grave

Must I find yet another kinsman dead.

Paris, who to mine eyes was innocent

Only for love had he fought

Thinking his actions right

But fortune trenched his flesh

With bills of steel.

Yet was it not love

That caused all ending battles?

Or in some cases, hate.

It was I, the Prince

Who should have brought peace

Restored law and order

But was somehow powerless

In my persistent attempts

To resolve old matters.

It seems the final decree

The one that brought closure

Were the deaths of the now famous couple,

Romeo and Juliet.

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