Calliope’s Revenge
written by: Barbara Harris Leonhard
@BarbaraLeonhar4
Calliope springs from the soil.
Her golden crown blinds the sun
with jewels, the light of violets.
She eats my cantaloupe,
sips corona, tweets with magpies.
Sad poets resting in torpor
complain she talks too much.
Homer collects her rambling texts
onto toilet paper rolls to study during Lockdown.
Submits her endless rants to Rattle
under his name, claims
AI did it. 5G made him dizzy.
The magpies out him. PEN pulls
his award, cancels the check.
Calliope’s unrattled. Has new side hustles—
Metaphors Galore on Etsy and
music lessons on YouTube.
Virgil arrives in his Uber to shuffle her
to poetry readings and book launches.
Got any good lines? He asks.
She opens her purse and
fans out words like a fistful of twenties.
“All men owe honor to the poets –
honor and awe; for they are dearest
to the Muse who puts upon their lips
the ways of life.” He caught it all
on his voice recorder and sped off
to write his epic.
- Spooked - November 2, 2024
- Calliope’s Revenge - July 14, 2024
- A Squirrel’s Front Teeth Never Stop Growing - May 9, 2024
