E.P. Fisher – Innisfree Poetry Journal

My Naughty Muse

Swear to me, O naughty muse, princess of verb & noun,
Naked snake-woman companion with sweet-talk on your lips,
Siren singing salty nymph & mermaid of the drowned,
Dark-eyed darling valentine & Eve to my naive rib.

Pledge to me your kiss-and-tell of consonants & vowels,
Bride of the One True Stutterer, star-stuff of psalms & hymns,
My caterwauler cat’s-meow & inner beatnik “Howl”;
Footman to your chambered heart & whimsical eponym.

Rock me in your box-step, your marathon fox-trot tryst!
Lay me down in your REM-state, your Eden charms come back!
Please me with my crazy troth, play Clio to my lisp—
Your dada plagiarist boy-toy & hack insomniac.

Summon me with whispers, out-of-earshot monotones,
More ersatz elbowroom for my tongue-in-cheek funny-bone!

E.P. Fisher is the author of four books and has published in more than one hundred small college journals & little magazines, including The Writer, The Lyric, Chaffin, Illuminations, Crucible, Licking River, Alembic, Leading Edge, Listening Eye, Sanskrit, Saranac, Urthona, Ibbetson Street, Nassau and Wisconsin Reviews. He’s been a Pushcart nominee and has won New York Poetry Forum competitions. His articles have appeared in Johns Hopkins University Press, Association for the Study of Play & The Writer’s Chronicle. He taught high school English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, and worked for 30 years as a play therapist and adventure-based counselor with special needs children.

My Naughty Muse

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