In posting this last poem from the Road, written while we were towards the end of our trip in Washington D.C., I also thought it would be an opportunity for me to gather together all of the other poems written during the trip. So, below this one are links to all of the others…
‘In Shakespeare’s Steps’
For Ralph Cohen, Jim Warren, Amy Wratchford and all who love the Blackfriars Theatre, Staunton, Virginia.
The gasp that comes before these words begin
Echoes like the striking of a match,
And lights the way into this well-lit grove:
A dream that never ends because the night
Is held, suspended, always in the light.
This oak-beamed universe holds many acts
Which leap up from the stage, push at the sky,
And catch the wind with wild and whirling words
That bless this place, like dew upon those bars,
And settle in the wood like broken stars.
Our congregation-audience behold
A court-room-church, a monastery of sound,
Prayerful, open-fretted, highly wrought:
We hear ourselves in music from our time;
We find ourselves in early-modern rhyme.
I join the dance with Shakespeare’s troupe of friends
Who follow, softly printing, as he pipes
His footsteps on the inside of my mind:
We bow at gallants, smiling to behold
How closely they can feel his story told.
by Paul Edmondson
Click on the links to read and here more poetry from the Road…
The Song of the Bluegrass Bard: for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival
A Sonnet for the Stratford Festival, Ontario
Lenox Rose: for Tina Packer and Shakespeare and Company
Shakespeare in Sable: for the Harlem Shakespeare Festival
Straight-talking Shakespeare: for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Door Ways to Shakespeare: for the Door Shakespeare Festival
Big Sky Shakespeare – for Montana Shakespeare in the Parks
Destination Shakespeare – A Rondeau for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland
Topanga Song: for Will Geer’s Theatricum Bontanicum
A Sonnet for the Utah Shakespeare Festival
Winedale Villanelle: For Shakespeare at Winedale
Shakespeare in New Orleans: for the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane
The Winter’s Tale in Kansas City: for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival