By Shiloh Sophia
Peanut Butter for the Muse Who is that peaking out from behind the veil? Winking in the darkness with the eyes you only sometimes use She wants to know Do you dare encounter the Muse? A word of warning: Don’t look at her with a direct gaze She may flee from you into her own place Leaving trails of feathers, the scent of truffles or a storm and always the air of lady mystery She uses your secret names to call you as she rises to the surface of form But to where is she calling you? To the place she dwells You ask the address, but she refuses and sighs Another time perhaps…we do have work to do Many years could go by before that winking blinks again When you see her blinking into the space between spaces Blink Blink Blink Wink Wink Pay attention as the time of arrival is near this place Will you come this time and mystery dive? Should you be worried, you wonder Well, yes, she quips You could even be scared to life! Having Muse eyes creates different lives Don’t ask what will happen or how long it will take or if you will survive this near miss Instead risk everything for this A soul is enlightened by the Muse’s kiss If you lose her trail again, there are things you can do to woo her, but don’t tell her I told you this: Ask her what she likes, what she really really likes My Muse likes to consume my fear with a chunky peanut butter ball on a bit of dark chocolate. I leave it for her here on the drawing board next to a stack of blank paper Then I listen with the other ears within and pick up the pen and begin As I hear her cry out to the starry sky: Where or where shall I take her? I wrote this for my Color of Woman students so they could get to know the philosophy of the Muse better. Here’s what happened after she heard the poem She told me while she appreciated my offering of poetry, chocolate and peanut butter I hadn’t gotten it right at all Although I have heard her say That nothing is about getting right. She said I may have led people astray even further. But since she is at times a trickster I decided to ask her a few questions. I started with where she lives. This is the answer I got: I will tell you where I work but not where I live. That’s personal. I work from a chair, lacquer red That is situated at the Back of your heart on a gimble. My lover, who was listening in, Said – Ah so your muse is Dimensionally agnostic. Yes she said. Finally you have said something relevant. Want more from me? get to the canvas and I will show you what’s next. She can be that way, my Muse, She likes to catch me off guard and if I don’t take it too personally, we can laugh about it. At other times she is as gentle as a snowy owl wrapping me in her feathered cape in total darkness This all so that I can see better.