Letters to Juliet

Robert Cooperman

Prologue—Letters to Juliet

I should reply in sonnets,
not this pastry prose
of Lonelyhearts columns.
Maestro Shakespeare would be pleased
people think Juliet is flesh
and not just words on a page
or an actress who disappears
after each performance.

Some letters are unbearable,
as if she’s a patron saint
who can cure cancer,
bring back dead parents,
return lovers who left girls—
barely too old for dolls—
with screaming infants and shame.

But most are from teenagers
demanding signed photos,
or to know what she thinks
of kissing on a first date,
or whether to bring condoms
to an outdoor concert.

At night I toss some pasta,
rent a video, read, crochet,
and stare through the ceiling
to the man in the flat above;
he paces as if measuring
his rooms for carpet.

I saw him once
when he left for work,
a face faithful as art,
fingers ink stained, perhaps
from writing to his dream girl
who can still his lonely panic
with a kiss, a murmured promise
to love him forever.

isbn 1-59661-132-4
118 pages/$9

In Letters to Juliet, Robert Cooperman introduces a jaded Juliet who might have been quill-penned on parchment and whisked to the present by time machine. Cooperman evokes the flavor of Shakespeare’s plays with whispered asides, bawdiness, and (eventually fortuitous) misunderstandings. Using wisdom and knowledge of human foibles, he presents a narrative series that captures the lives of ordinary people in a straightforward yet profound manner. These poems will strike a chord.
—Ann Howells, Editor
Illya’s Honey

This well-plotted and hilarious soap opera, cleverly sprinkled with Shakespeare references, presents a young advice columnist in search of love. The characters will remind you of people you know and the skillful verse will carry you along for the fun. Letters to Juliet is a poet’s romp full of recognizable emotions and, ultimately, some wise advice.
—Penelope Scambly Schott,
winner of the 2008 Oregon Book Award for
A Is for Anne: Mistress Hutchinson Disturbs the Commonwealth

Robert Cooperman is the author of ten previous collections, including A Tiny Ship upon the Sea and A Dream of the Northwest Passage, both brought out by March Street Press. My Shtetl has won the Holland Prize and is forthcoming from Logan House. The Ranch Wife is forthcoming from Turning Point Books.