Hey, it’s National Poetry Month, so I’ve decided to post a few poems this April. It’s been fun for me to look back over my decades-long collection of poems to find a few that will be just right for this moment in time. None of those wild, whiny, passionate unrequited love poems I seemed prone to writing back in my youth! This is a fun one that was included in an anthology called Unlacing: Ten Irish-American Women Poets, edited by Patricia Monaghan in 1987. I felt very honored to be included in this book!!
How to Find the Muse
Think about the sky.
It’s a new blue tablecloth
and a big-hipped woman
has carelessly dribbled
gobs of whipped cream
all over it.
There she has set down
an orange bowl.
Smell cinnamon and coriander
as you scoop spicy carrots
and squash from the bowl
to you mouth.
Bite into a raw cucumber
to cool the fiery curry
on your tongue.
Now drum your fingertips
on the table.
Listen to a jazz quartet.
Tap your feet
on a black and white
tiled floor.
When she starts to sing
those torchy blues
press your lips together
and hum
until you taste sweetened cream
spilling
from the sky.
oh God I a there, so sensuous,. Whipped cream, spicy food and jazz. How drunkenly delicious
thanks, Nancy!!