The ‘Muse’: A Poem by Leland James

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The “Muse”

A sailboat, small, unvarnished wood,
her sail a swath, a patch, of red
fastened by type-9 yo-yo string
to a pencil mast and a stick of boom;
a sailboat, small, unvarnished wood

atop a bookcase, moored abreast
an amphora vase wanting Greek wine,
sprouting a wilting bouquet instead,
a spray of yesterday’s anemone—
the “Muse” awakened, coming about

full-sail departing the bookcase bay,
close to the wind, alive in the lines,
craft aslant making its way:
the “Muse,” into the main, Gangway!
past the tin-can clatter of everyday.

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Leland James is the author of five poetry collections, four children’s books in verse, and a book on creative writing and poetry craft. He has published over three hundred poems worldwide including The Lyric, Rattle, London Magazine, The South Carolina Review, The Spoon River Poetry Review, New Millennium Writings, The American Poetry Review, The Haiku Quarterly, The American Cowboy, and The Ekphrastic Review. He was the winner of the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award and has won or received honors in many other competitions, both in the USA and Europe. Leland has been featured in American Life in Poetry and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
www.lelandjamespoet.com & https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/leland-james