William Shakespeare 

Cold theater braces for a cliche thespian 

Yet his every word is soft cotton on your skin 

A bouquet of passion, puckishness and verse

 

Sylvia Plath

Bell jar sticky with fingerprints and sand

A whipping wind tips over your afternoon plans 

Her manic notes on napkins now prolific works

 

Maya Angelou

Thunderous megaphone silences the crowd

Histories crushed under slavery resound

Her words now balm on the wounds of injustice 

 

© Candice Reineke 2021