Nora Zilkie is completing the Master of Arts—Integrated Studies program at Athabasca University. She began her undergraduate studies at Arctic College in Yellowknife, NWT, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in writing from the University of Victoria in British Columbia. She currently resides in Sooke, B.C.

One of the course texts for MAIS 621 is Kim Stafford’s The Muses Among Us. It made me think about how very useful a muse could be, and maybe I should make myself more available.

The Muse

He could come riding up Church Hill
On a white horse
But then I’d probably be
Out, getting a perm—of course.

Or, maybe sail into Sooke Basin
On a shrimp boat
When I was at Costco, eating
Ice cream in the parking lot.

He might drive up to my place
At number thirty
On the very day
I’d flown to Maui.

Or, maybe come in a stretch limo
Ready to inspire me
While I was down at Whiffin Spit
Watching whales—for free.

Ah, finally, my neighbour saw him walking
Away from my door, and said:
“He was whistling as he left,
It sounded like Cold Play’s
I Will Fix You.”