In the fourth of our Shakespearean Sonnet competition winners, Linda Atterton takes a new angle on Romeo and Juliet. All winners will receive a copy of Litro #133: Shakespeare, and a copy of Ben Crystal’s book Shakespeare on Toast.

Some spell enchants my lover Romeo,
Some magic whispers, pours a poison black,
His eyes although they glitter, do not glow,
No path I line in stars will bring him back.
I seek his arms, embrace will turn to stone,
The lark will sing and steal his shape away,
I wake at dawn and find myself alone,
No sweeter song I sing will make him stay.
Thy rose you banish, sonnet make lament,
A crown of thorns you place upon my head,
And only candles burn, your passion spent,
Thy nightingale you cage, thy darkness wed.
The story Shakespeare wills you to forget,
My tale of Romeo and Juliet.

About Linda Atterton

Although Scottish Linda Atterton lives in Norfolk where she is a psychologist specialising in brain injury. She studied at Aberdeen University, then trained as a clinical psychologist. She was the winner of the Lallans magazine competition for her age group at seventeen for a Scottish poem. She has published poems in Scottish and Irish magazines, including 'Abridged'. 'The Moth', and 'Far off Places', and in several anthologies. Her first piece of Flash Fiction was published last year in Litro. She has written a number of sonnets but 'Banished' is the first to be published. 'Romeo and Juliet' is a favourite play.

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