Monday, March 9, 2015

Visit of the Muse--By Barbara Tate--United States

Visit of the  Muse

Rain turned to snow and evening to night.
I paced the cabin and scratched my name
in window frost before the Muse settled beside me giving dictation
by firelight, her kitten voice purring a cadence
to the altar of forgetfulness, whispering through
the midnight hour.

Before daybreak the onion had peeled and layers
exposed. She stared at me, clasped my hand
and disappeared in gray dawn shadows without saying goodbye
or telling where the dreams lay buried.

In silence before the storm flurries returned to rain
and dawn crept across the pages and clawed at
the written words. I shoved a log on the embers,
poured a cup of coffee and read words I forgot to forget.
Rain tapped at the window and my name disappeared
with the frost as pages turned to ashes
on the altar of forgetfulness.

Barbara Tate is a member of the Haiku Society of America, Gulf Coast Writers Association and the United Haiku and Tanka Society. Her work as appeared in Bear Creek Haiku, Frogpond, Cattails, Modern Haiku, Contemporary Haiku Online, Magnolia Quarterly, Poet's Art, Storyteller Magazine, Iconoclast, Santa Fe Literary Review, WestWard Quarterly, Restoring the Circle and Haiku Journal among others. She currently lives in Winchester, TN.

6 comments:

  1. Hello, Barbara! I love your very real and yet very playful projection of "the muse" - she definitely doesn't stick around too long, yet long enough to inspire a creative write such as this one.... a very cool read! Sheri

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    1. Thank you so much--I do wish 'the muse' would come more often but most of the time I just have to force it.

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  2. Enriching with poetic depth. Nice work, Barbara. I enjoyed "Visit of the Muse." Thank you for sharing and continued blessings!

    -MJ (www.tgbtgpublictions.com)

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    1. I enjoyed writing this one. Thank you for your kind words.

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  3. Barbara, I enjoyed the well written poem. I can easily picture the meditative state of the person in the poem and how peeling back the annals of time and coming up with memories just as soon forgotten and then burning them in the fireplace never again to bring them up. It took me a couple of times of reading to "see" a wonderful example of how to get rid of bad memories once and for all, in the fireplace, the altar of forgetfulness. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent.
    Charlene.

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    1. I can't tell you how much I appreciate each and every word of your 'comment'. It's things like this that 'keeps me keeping on', even at my age!

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