JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

Oh lady muse has escaped me

she’s lost like a moth in the night

and though I labor to call her back

all I can find is this maze in my mind

and a paper blank as an unpainted wall

 

Oh lady muse how shall I tempt thee

with chocolate and pétit fours

and a book of verse by Robert or Will

with a groan or a joke or a jug of wine

but the clouds have covered your veiled face

 

Oh lady muse why have you left me

with a pain in my groin and my mind

and an unblemished page and a day full of toil

and tasks to distract me from seeking at all

or searching in cupboards or under the bed

 

For a clue or a hint as to where you have fled

but all I can find is a stick of chewed pencil

and a sheaf of old pages I thought I’d thrown out

so with these I will scribble and hope you’ll relent

forgive me, come back from wherever you went