The artistic community speaks of their Muse. It is a reference to Greek Mythology where there were Muses for each creative branch and science. One always wanted their Muse to smile upon them. Muses were in charge so to speak.

Today we have internalized the Muse and rather than a deity it is the spark that ignites creativity. It is in our mind, but it is not always approachable. Like a petulant child it hides when most sought after. Ignore it for a while and it seems to come out of hiding to seek attention. I think of my Muse as a five year old child.

Anything can spark the Muse. Here are some poems to point this up. The first was sparked by researching archaic words. Just the unusual sounds called for my attention and led to the poem. The second was a request to write something for an event for my daughter. Personal messages or interacting with a specific person can be a strong kick to the creative butt. The third was inspired by a picture a friend posted on facebook of sunshine through a wave. The forth was supplied by song lyrics of Irish folk music, specifically the words "traveling people," which I changed to wandering nation.

Once the seed is found then the writing and editing can begin, sometimes with a surprise even to the writer. For any art if full of twists, and serendipitous happenstance and mistakes. The whole process is an adventure in becoming. Enjoy these butterflies of my imagination.

Politics As Unusual

There was a snollyguster

a national pain in the rump

who to pull off his agenda

the whole country would betrump

Was he an ambodexter?

There might be some small doubt,

but there is a strong stench

this might be what he's about.

Snollyguster. - A person, particularly a politician, who is guided by their own self-interest rather than their principles. Often intelligent but unwilling to use their brains for the common good. 'David Cameron is a snollyguster, he doesn't care about the country, he just wants power.'

Betrump, v: To deceive, cheat; to elude, slip from ,

Ambodexter, n: One who takes bribes from both sides

Reading is Magical

Come, take a little journey

Down the pathways of the mind

And look upon the magic

That reading lets us find.

The runes upon the paper

The groupings and mixes

Are more powerful by far

Then all the spells and hexes.

The poet writes a tune

In meter and in rhyme

And the soul can hear the cadence

And march along in time.

A scientist writes of nature

The universe's story told

From the minutest to infinity

Creation's clockwork does unfold.

Math in special notation

Marches boldly cross the page

And the magic of numbers

Comes to us from each age.

History reports fact and thought

From here to early ages

And magically we see ourselves

Developing in these pages.

From fantasy and fiction

We see the richness of the mind

As the thought process of others

In plot and circumstance unwind.

The quest we commit to,

Aid the untaught mind,

That all shall have the magic

And none be "reading blind".

Waves

Something is compelling

in the breaking wave

It is powerful and fragile

while heading to its grave.

Sunlight glistens through it

colored warm morn and eve

prancing through the air

with sequins on its sleeve.

The smell of salt

and the gulls in the sky

each moment is a pearl drop

from Mom Nature's eye.

Gypsy

The wandering nation

tinkers and minstrels and fools

souls who won't be constrained

by society's narrow rules.

They've always been with us

doing tasks we despise

and we fear the fierce freedom

reflected in their eyes.