The Muse Bitch Slaps the Poet

Look, the muse tells her,
you are a pain in the ass right now.
Always complaining
this word isn’t quite right
that line break is off
the language cliché
the metaphor mixed
the repetition dull
the direction isn’t quite where you wanted to go.

Give me a break, you recalcitrant bitch.
You’re writing every day, aren’t you?

So quit your belly-aching
and be grateful I don’t
call the Block over
to teach you a thing or two about
inspiration and the lack thereof.

Inspirate this, bitch:

I need a break
so you gotta rely on Craft now.
And don’t give me any more of your lip
or I will lay your neck on the Block
faster than your fingers could ever fly across the keyboard.

See if you get any writing done then.



© 2008 Birdstory Publications