Books That Inspire 2004
 
The House of Belonging: Poems
David Whyte


Poet David Whyte inspires my own poetry to spill forth. What better gift can any author give to us than to inspire the muse that resides within? The poem below is why I read David Whyte and why this author’s soul meets my own.

Muse

She comes when my head is turned-
another way
Climbing into my inner sanctum
as she rummages through my dreams and visions
Without care that she will bruise my fragile soul.

The muse is without conscience!

Demanding that I perform for her pleasure alone-
Play for me! Sing for me! Paint for me! Dance for me! Write for me!

My ears ache from the echo of her tinsel-town noise.
I push her away. I beg for release
from her relentless insistence
that I surrender to her carping.
Oh! my throbbing head.
Leave me be! You wretched ache lodged inside my being.

But she will not stop this devilish torment.

Wearily I relent
this poem, onto the page spills words-
the birth pangs still raging in my body.
My spirit gushes forth, a startled child
born of this strange Marriage with the Muse.
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Barbara Boyd
Director of Outreach/Faculty
Religious Studies