My Muse Hides in the Dark of Night, Taunting Me to Switch on the Light

A poem in response to Bob Jasper’s prompt “muse”

Where does that magic key reside Unlocks the door where my words hide

In deepest dream state I awake Grab pen and paper notes to take

For if I dare to hesitate Dither, delay, procrastinate

My muse delights and disappears Dissolves ebullient ideas

So bright I think I won’t forget Can wait till morning then regret

The empty page on bedside table Reminding me I am unable

To recall

The imagery I had created Disappeared, now I’m deflated

Made the same mistake again Ignored my muse and felt the pain

What’s the point notebook and pen Ready to receive and then

I turn over, back to sleep Convinced the imagery will keep And in the morning wail and weep No written harvest I can reap

Dear Muse I ask that you forgive My memory is like a sieve

You dance and dart Play hide and seek Please pause awhile for me to peek At our combined creative streak

I promise to pay rapt attention Please don’t place me in detention

Whatever time you care to call I’ll note your visit in a scrawl

The irony is that I woke during the night with ideas for this poem but never wrote them down, kidding myself I’d remember. They’d disappeared when I awoke this morning!

I’m usually quite disciplined with switching on the light and making notes.

However, my omission created the theme for this poem!

“The muse whispers to you when she chooses, and you can’t tell her to come back later, because you quickly learn in this business that she might not come back at all.” — Terry Brooks

Lesson learned!

Thank you to Bob Jasper for tagging me.

This all began with Martin Rushton

I continue this chain with the prompt Anticipation and invite the following writers to the party. Please tag me if you participate and pay it forward to another 10 if you wish.

Sylvia Wohlfarth, Amy Marley, Robin Klammer, Sherry McGuinn, Marla Bishop, Kristi Keller, P.G. Barnett, Joe Luca, Timothy Key, Gurpreet Dhariwal

Thank you for being here.