The Hamlet Project

So many characters from these plays
Long for night.
I can’t think of a character that longs for day.
They usually curse it
For coming so soon.
I think especially of Juliet Capulet
Needing to put off daylight as Romeo prepares to go,
While the night before
She longed for night
She longed for night in the most palpably physical way.
“Come night, come night –”
Suing to the night for its arrival
To bring Romeo to her.
This wishing for night here in Hamlet
Is a little more subdued –
A little more of suspense
Of twitchy fingers and killing time
To watch for what has been set in motion.
What do you do between the revelation
That the ghost of your father has appeared
And the opportunity to see that ghost?