Since ancient times, poets have cited their "muse" as the source of their inspiration. In fact, it was the antediluvian Greeks who personified them as the source of knowledge, assigning credit to them as the inspirations of science and the arts, as well.
I often feel as though there is "something" which feeds, directs, and helps me to make sense of the poems I write. I hesitate to nail this down too tightly because the very idea of the muse, of having a muse, is a wonderfully romantic and ethereal thing.
There had been times when I found myself in a great struggle for control over a work in process. I had chosen the words, and carefully plotted their course, only to see them dash against the rocks and fly apart.
It took me a while, as I groped my way along in my early years of my writing, to relinquish some amount of control to that "something," until I almost wondered whether the poem was destined to simply write itself.
Eventually, I came upon a sort of truce with my "muse." Now, instead of a battle there is a kind of collaboration I've learned to listen for subtle nuances and unexpected turns that I might have otherwise overlooked.
Whether there actually are "muses" or no, what I now experience while writing goes well beyond merely taking dictation. As a poet, I get to be both plotter of the course, and ever curious about what lies ahead a the poem.
I often feel as though there is "something" which feeds, directs, and helps me to make sense of the poems I write. I hesitate to nail this down too tightly because the very idea of the muse, of having a muse, is a wonderfully romantic and ethereal thing.
There had been times when I found myself in a great struggle for control over a work in process. I had chosen the words, and carefully plotted their course, only to see them dash against the rocks and fly apart.
It took me a while, as I groped my way along in my early years of my writing, to relinquish some amount of control to that "something," until I almost wondered whether the poem was destined to simply write itself.
Eventually, I came upon a sort of truce with my "muse." Now, instead of a battle there is a kind of collaboration I've learned to listen for subtle nuances and unexpected turns that I might have otherwise overlooked.
Whether there actually are "muses" or no, what I now experience while writing goes well beyond merely taking dictation. As a poet, I get to be both plotter of the course, and ever curious about what lies ahead a the poem.
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