Poem on a Class Paper

My high school English teacher said,

poor Romeo and Juliet are dead,

From bitter strife among the bold,

From facing that they’re growing old,

In Mantua or some such place,

When Italy was not a State,

But just a bunch of city-states,

That never could decide their fate,

A plague on both their Houses came,

By some guy trying to run the place,

What good did that do Romeo,

When poisoned by a dumb mistake,

The moral is don’t ever drink

a vial that’s bought at discount rates,

From guys behind the Garden’s gate,

Who tell you selling it is Death,

You’ll share this fate with Romeo,

Who never learned his Love survived,

In love so strong death only sleeps.

-Albert Turner Goins