To Charm Erato
Directions:
For best results sing while strumming a lyre,
Scatter petals of roses hither and thither to inspire,
A pyre of golden arrows ignite
With a garland of myrtle. Our muse will delight!
Add a remnant of fleece and a turtledove feather,
Stroke a thrice-kissed kithara (but not in fowl weather!).
The Charm:
“Come now, Erato! Stand by my side.”
(Post this, she will abide.)
My muse is a night-owl who’s been pouring literary nectar into my brain during the wee hours forever. She’s a siren who can’t stand being alone at night. By 2 or 3 a.m. at the latest, I am flailing, whacking at her with my 3 pillows, screaming “No! Not tonight! No way!” until R very gently tells me he’ll make me coffee, anything, if I’ll just get the heck out of bed and WRITE! So I do, but I make my own damn coffee because dragging him into her amusement, is just not fair. And truth be told, I love the beautiful lady! Sometimes when she showers me with golden graces, I wonder if she isn’t actually the Guardian Angel of Hard Cases.
On Day 3, the challenge was to write a charm. 
Painting: Erato, Muse and Poet-Sir Edward John Poynter, 1836-1919
Still Life with Tortillas 
I wish I could hear my muse so clearly! Loving your poetry, Susan! Happy your muse is so noisy.
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Thanks, Pam. I may need to consult you on haiku soon…that form is like squeezing water out of a bar of soap, for me!
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Cool–both muse midnight exploits and this poem. I am doing NaPoWriMo too, but no blog, so no posts. Today I wrote A Slander of Slugs–will read at RWB this Saturday. Are you coming?
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Thanks, Victoria! I’m so pleased to know you’re on board with NaPoWriMo. Would you like to send me a poem and I can post it here? I’d love to promote your fine work. I can even insert a pic if you want and any narrative you’d like to include. My blog is one of the participants on the NaPoWriMo website so you might get some loving exposure. Just shoot your stuff to me via email (susanissima@gmail.com) and I’ll do a post on it.
Yes, I’ll be at RWB on Sat.
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I am also up at 3am sketching . . . think of me miles away while our men sleep! And yes, muses are annoying but where would we be without them? Get your hands on Clarissa Pinkola Estes “The Creative Fire.” She does an excellent bit on muses, very real, thank you! DK
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From now on, Kate, I’ll take comfort in knowing that your muse is nipping at your heels, as is my Erato. And you’re right, we’d be no where without them…though I’m not too clear on where I actually am. Ordering Pinkola Estes book now. Hugs!
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R. likes coffee, and S’s poetry too!!
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S likes coffee and R’s art.
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