Messages from the Muse

“Check gandy-dancers,” “the invention
of Jello,” “write about hand-operated
Ford windshield wipers…” all day long
Clio whispers as I try to write, work or wash
the dishes –“What did they use before liquid soap?”
(cuttlefish bone; horsetail, marestail and soapwort plants,
hay and ash, cloth, baking soda and sugar sand
(organic salt debris that settles from maple sap))
on and on like a four-year-old pulling on my hem,
“let’s play!” So I do, following the leader
round and round the garden, up the water spout,
down the rabbit hole and up the spout again.
She leaps and romps and runs ahead,
looking back to laugh, “Have I ever
steered you wrong?”

~~~
Inspired by #dVerse.

Since I started writing historical fiction, I’ve become enthusiastic about things that never interested me before. When reading about Clio the Muse of History, I chose Johannes Moreelse’s image because she looked as childlike and mischievous as Cleo the poodle on Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Illustration by Marten Ferret