the Muses are gathering
they have always been a collective
and this time is no different
Kalliope arrives first eldest
of the sisters she is always in the lead
the others follow talking about the news
not only have we been sacked
it's worse they have decided not
to recognise us at all
like China in the 1960s a great lump
of land like that suddenly
doesn't exist cannot be discussed
don't these governments know anything?
you can't decide not to know about
music poetry song dance
our domains of tragedy and comedy
could embrace this policy if only
they could see and hear us
they know nothing of history
history is what happened ten minutes ago
in a newsroom in America
in spite of rockets and space probes
they have thrown out astronomy
hobbled by her old cousin astrology
time to call up the tenth Muse
Sappho the world has turned
and we do remember you
terrific! perfect final stanza
ReplyDeleteThanks Efi.
DeleteBeautiful poem. Beautiful Sappho. It's time. Help us get back in touch with true desire.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I love this one. What a final line. I'm all emotional with it!
ReplyDelete