The Muse Returns (Poetry)

The pen,

silent for so long,

chatters so quickly--

it cannot stop!

I humor it like a child,

let it spin tall tales,

listen to it as it invents friends

and foes from long ago,

and places that do not exist,

until it pauses for breath

and plows on, unheeding.

It takes me like a lover,

but instead of draining me,

it infuses me with power.

The nib scratches, the ink blotches,

worlds collide.

The reality is here and now,

long ago and far away.

Years before and years beyond:

Reality transformed.