Dramatic Monologue

For my poetry tutorial, my first assignment included, among many other things, writing my own dramatic monologue. Before this, I had no idea what a dramatic monologue was, but it is basically a speech given by a character (not the poet) that typically serves as a way for readers to gain a deeper insight into the character's mentality and point of view. It often causes readers to sympathize with the character, postponing any moral judgement for the sake of better understanding him/her.

So, here is my attempt. Some of the lines are a little off because of the text sizing. 

THE DEFENDANT

The jury is seated? Let us begin!

Honored am I to be standing before

You, O most admired Judge! Blissful joy

Overwhelmed my soul as I peered out the

Window from the shiny car that shuttled

Me here. The clear skies, the crisp air, the soft clouds,

Always has the world been so lovely?

Living in a cell does make one forget.

The sun seemed to be shining extra bright

Today, did it not? The flowers aside

The entrance look precisely like the pink

Ones dear Mother planted in the garden

For the butterflies! How furious she

Would be when little Brutus uprooted

Them in search of old bones! How different those

Bright flowers from this sad, dimly lit room

Where Judgment takes place, just two steps away.

Sometimes when I think about that night, a

Flawlessly clear memory, an utter

Blur, I cannot seem to remember if

His hair was blonde or brown, if he was tall

Or short. I remember only the soft

Fading of his piercing green eyes, my hands

Gripping his pulsing throat; tighter, tighter…

Forever his blood rests upon my hands

And since then twice, no, three times that number!

Hazel, my darling, I did it for her!

Naught one hand would harm her I swore; I knew

It from the moment his searching, lustful eyes

Found her that he could not love her as I.

She was naive; she did not know the harm

And pain he would cause her, and therefore me.

As my cold hands closed around his scrawny

Throat, it was like sipping tea, peacefully

By the window on a dreary morning,

like reading my favorite book by the

Fireplace during a winter blizzard;

He would bother my sweet Hazel no more.

My dear judge, why do you yawn? I see you

Glance at your gold watch; stop playing me! You have

Already made your decision; O, have

Mercy and relieve me from my role in

This puppet show! What more could you inflict

Upon me? ‘Send me to death’ you say now?

My god! If only the world were so kind!

Send me back to the zoo I now sleep in,

Where I awake to footsteps and pointing

Fingers as the guard gives daily tours of

These vicious animals that sit behind

Bars, longing so to find that dignity

They are stripped of. ‘Face the wall!’ screams the guard

As he walks by, for, unlike me, he would

Not dare protect a sweet, innocent girl.

How odd! I thought they wanted to make less

Of a menace of me. How silly they

Are to think several decades spent in a

Cold, dark stone room will change me! I am not

A mass murderer, I am only a

Boy the world would not leave alone. Sometimes

I wonder if my father was wrong when

He told me to stand up for myself: ‘Get

Them or they will get you!’ he said. Maybe

He was right; no one cares for anyone:

The world is less troublesome here.

Little do they know cages can only

‘Protect’ this society for so long.

Ah, the jury is getting restless I

See! I have rambled long enough. How have

I longed for the distant day when I am

Punished, brought to conclusion, at last done,

When I am forever released into

Oblivion, where thoughts of my lovely

Hazel will no longer plague my mind. Let

Us sit back in silence; I anxiously

Await my final release to the grave.

A beautiful day this certainly is!