I would love to have a muse, I think
faced with a blank page
or a knotty prompt
she would be there in a blink
with ideas and inspiration
chewing the cud, I imagine
her gifts to me quite gratis
she would require
no acknowledgement
of our collaboration
a relationship too good to be true
Why are muses generally “she”
or is it in opposition to
the poet’s gender
– opposites attract and all that
can I pay to go on a course
to get my gal
is there an Agency for muses
that pairs you up like speed dating
could AI write me the perfect
letter of application – guaranteed
to find the perfect match
a muse for life – no shallow fling
here today
abandoned to blank page
tomorrow
Instead, if I choose
to accept this prompt
or if I wake with an itch
that only the laying down
of poetry can sooth
I face each piece of poesie
on my own, flying solo
never knowing where the words
will take me on today’s adventure
but within a moment
the idea arrives
the point of departure
then buckle up for the ride
here goes blue sky thinking…
© Andrew Wilson, 2026
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Grace in Meeting the Bar: Critique and Craft, brings us a last prompt before our two-week Summer break and its a doosie – an Ars Poetica that goes to the heart of our craft of writing poems…
Love this, Andrew, and I’m quite sure it is ‘opposition’ to one’s gender.
I’m not sure, but I don’t think I have a muse. (grinning)
I have a Critique Partner, Writing Group compadres and of dVerse pubgoers, but no Muse – but I remain open to the possibility…
“I face each piece of poesie
on my own, flying solo
never knowing where the words
will take me on ”
For a Muse you once had to know the love of a troubadour for his lady as in Petrarch and Laura, Robert Graves and his (toxic) Laura not to mention Leonard Cohen and all his ladies – but hey, we females rely on the Muse in a different way – by association perhaps but never think you’re flying solo Andrew – that’s far too lonely a journey even for a humanist! 😉
I didn’t know that about muses, Laura – I shall have to read up a little bit… As for being lonely, well there is always this pub!
Thank goodness for knotty prompts to get us over the blank page, Andrew, although a muse is sometimes welcome. I love the thought of an agency for muses, although I think of it more as a poetry detective agency. But ‘flying solo never knowing where the words will take me on today’s adventure’ is so much more exciting.
Funnily enough, the knotty prompts of say, a very technical form, are easier I think, it is the unfettered free verse that can become overblown and lose its way, I find. Have a good break, Kim…
The muse of inspiration comes and goes. Requiring us to fly solo can be a good thing. Poetry is all around us we just need to look with a keen eye. Maybe, it is the tree or a baby bird, or in the pain of loss. It’s everywhere I think and yours is with you in subtle ways.
Thanks, Truedessa! As I said in my comment on your poem, I think I was imagining an “embodied” muse with a separate voice, but those ideas that come when contemplating the blank page have to come from somewhere – so let’s call it My Muse…
Yes, let’s call it your muse.
I read your thoughtful comment on my blog.
A muse can be a person or a force of some sorts that helps one create.
I believe you have one, my friend.
“Here goes blue sky thinking”….perhaps therein is your muse? Lovely, write and I love the questioning format…brillinatly evoked! 💜
I wrote this poem as a lighthearted take on the traditional idea of a muse, Cara, but the poems of others and the comments here have made me see that wherever the ideas come from in the initial moment of inspiration, it is ours, from within, and must be considered our muse…
I like to believe that the muse is a part of you, sometimes not always known or seen by us. Love the idea of an agency for muses but flying solo is fine too. Its the big exhale of what is buried deep in us. Happy summer!
I think you are right, Grace, but it is hard to see that part of you for yourself; it is easier for others to hear our muse speaking through our poems, and in any case, there are different voices, sometimes serious and sometimes, as here, with a touch of humour. As Robert Burns said “Would to God the gift a gie us, to see ourselves as others see us…”
I really enjoyed this playful take on the muse Andrew, especially the way it shifts into adventurous, self-propelled creativity. Nice write 👏
Thanks, Shaun – I am coming to the conclusion, that whatever part of me constitutes my muse, is both playful and serious by turns…
Not sure if it works like that.. for me a muse has to be flesh and blood actually
Well that sounds fun! So do you have one or more muses, Björn, do you have to feed them, or offer a beverage or alcohol, and how do you manage to summon them so quickly when responding to dVerse prompts – do tell…
Great response to the challenge, Andrew! Favorite lines:
is there an Agency for muses
that pairs you up like speed dating
I wish. Trust you are having a delightful summer!!!
Thanks, Helen, we are see-sawing between wet and grey and heatwaves – how about you?
Through most of summer, I feel as though we live in a kind of “magic bubble” … humidity is relatively low, temps flucuate from low 50s [ sometimes high 40s ] overnight, to comfortable levels most days … with tons of sunshine and blue skies. We have central air conditioning but it rarely kicks on … best of all, I can fall asleep with sliding door [screened ] wide open. Better to hear the occasional train whistles, snuggle under a light down comforter. Take care ……..