My Monkey - My Muse

My muse is a white and black monkey with a long tail. She lives in a world made of words. Sometimes, she knows what they mean. Sometimes, she doesn’t. She wears a blue and white doll’s dress, with lace petticoats and bows in her hair, because it makes her feel like a person, which she is not.

Every day, she fits toy flatbed train cars with words and puts them on the toy train tracks that surround her. She uses the words that suit her and puts them in the order that suits her because she’s a monkey.

A little boy (that’s me) attaches a clockwork engine to these toy trains, and sometimes a caboose—because there should be a caboose, and sends the trains out into the world. Sometimes, the trains find an audience; sometimes, they do not. Sometimes, the little boy decides that “this one’s not ready yet” and keeps it somewhere safe to work on later.

Shakespeare spoke of the Dark Lady that inspired him. Milton felt sure the Holy Spirit guided his pen. That’s fine for them, but I have a monkey and sometimes a little dog I stole from a man on the radio, who reminds me that I have to work because I always wanted to work, and now I can.