The Muse at Poetry Readings

Posted on August 29, 2003 in Gratitude Writing Groups

I’m ashamed to admit it, but one of the best places I have found for revising my poems is at a poetry reading. While others recite, I find my hand moved to correction of my own words and broader expostulation of my thoughts. It’s not meant as an snub: it’s the highest compliment. Their voice, their choice of words have moved me and inspired me. I hear what they say and the magic of their declamation remolds my own verse for the better. The tintinnabulation and the sussurance of their performance stokes up the calliope of my own heart and I must make notation of the dance before the dancers leave the stage.

So, if you are at a poetry reading and you see me suddenly take up the pen and start scribbling, do not take it as insult or as failure. You’ve touched me, you’ve seized me in a place that most cannot reach. You have succeeded. The muse in you has tickled me and, as you know, when the muse speaks, you must create.

I bless all who have helped me so.