Kevin Hulme

The Scarlet Muse

She Stands in Beauty like a beloved dream,

The way all grace must surely seem,

And to Stay my all, with a fleeting look,

And has a face like Daffy Duck.

Just a minute that can\'t be right,

It\'s not the way I\'ve meant this Plight;

This Poem has taken a wicked turn,

It\'s not the way my Heart would yearn.

My Muse has gone and so I babble,

Up an Infamous Creek without a Paddle.

This really is the final straw,

For a Muse is what a Love Poems for.

Well ;  She\'s had her Chips and needn\'t come back,

To leave me writing like a Second Rate Hack,

I\'ll Ring the  \'Agency\' for another Muse ,

One totally Loyal and will not abuse.

I need a Girl that\'s Stationed by,

To help through doubt and much Rely.

Now they\'ve mentioned one, though a little Cheap,

But hopefully Gems of Prose I\'ll reap,

A Muse where flowered Verse was born,

And then her Spirit this Poem adorn.

But what is this they\'ve sent my way,

A \'Unionised\' Muse with Terms to lay:

Hour Long Breaks and \'Work to Rule\',

Weekends off and the Festive Yule.

Three Weeks Holiday, Twice a year,

Expenses payed by Muggings here.

Did Byron or Keats have such distress;

A Miss \'Leon Trotsky\' in a Frilly dress.

How can I write of a Heart laid bare,

If it\'s \' Clocking-Off time, and She\'s not there.

So please be Patient with this Sluggish flow,

Of finished Poems I\'d hope to show,

But it\'s come to this that when I write;

I live in fear of a Muse \'On Strike\'.

Oh-  Wayward Girl that left me so,

You weren\'t so bad now this I know,

Please return and grace my Mind,

With glittered Pearls to fill my Rhythm,

Stay with me when Verse begin-

And never Sing a \'Soap- Box\' Hymn.