"To a Muse" [by David Shapiro]

To a Muse

Give me a first line, you who are far away.
The second line will almost write itself.
In times of pain, I open the dictionary.

Like a girl in the last row who will not say
The theoretical part of the dream was herself
Give me a first lie, you who are far away.

A student laughs. I died once. Red is gray.
Cheat me like a quote, deceiving Elf.
In times of pain I open the dictionary.

You who tried to carve this family in clay
Skeptical and frivolous as a filthy shelf,
Give me another line, you who are far away.

It's a small freedom on a revisionary day
As a jay imitates the human on an elm.
In times of pain, I open the dictionary.

And in ordinary happiness, I open the dictionary.
The words remain, but the guards are gone for help.
Give me a last line, you who are far away.
In times of pain, I open the dictionary.

-- David Shapiro