“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; // Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;…”
Some time ago Minnie (Dancing that is, not Mouse) was given this poem, and a project brief. Her mission? To write a poem in response to Sonnet 130, from the view of the poem’s subject: Shakespeare’s Mistress.
After a little collaborative effort, she ended with this:
Sadness’ cloak covers my lover’s face,
It is a cage made from titanium bars,
Locking him away from my every embrace,
Leaving my heart covered in deep broken scars,
Sweet words, amongst smoke, bring scents of a flower,
His smile, ribbon red, and it reaches his eyes,
But hardly, if ever, cometh the hour,
When either presents, to bring butterflies.
Hands, so good for his writing – his first love,
But alas, in which light is my story thus told?
Juliette, fair maiden, is a star from above,
And I am nor candle nor mere flame to behold.
Yet I do love my lover and this he knows,
For of all the fair maidens, it was me that he chose.
– Minnie Dancing
Matilda Dancing 