Where have you gone?

I sat down at my desk
and my paper stayed blank.
So I moved to my couch.
I just saw white

If I were a muse, where
would I be?
I asked myself

I looked behind
the pillows,
under the table,
read all the food labels
in my pantry.

I pulled off the angel
that sat on top of
our Christmas tree.

AHA! I yelled with happiness

False happiness.
It turns out
you weren’t there.

Then, since I’ve always
pictured you as a boy,
I tried to look for you as a boy.

I searched inside the
pockets of my father’s
jackets.
Wore his slippers as
I tried to hunt you down.
And still no luck.

Oh my muse
Where have you gone?

You’re not inside my
gloves or behind
my TV.

I flipped through
my whole journal.
Nothing!

My page still sat empty,
like a child’s forgotten
toy.

But I wasn’t ready
to give up.
I needed you by my side.

I searched in the chimney,
I looked through all
my books.

You are so stubborn.

I called your name
and said that you had won.
Even then, you wouldn’t give up
your game of hide-and-seek.

After spending so many
hours searching without luck
I went to bed.

And as soon as my
eyes closed,
you shook my shoulders and
commanded me to write!