(in which Erato disses Calliope while Euterpe and Thalia cry with Melpomene)
Diodorus states that Osiris first recruited the nine Muses, along with the satyrs,
while passing through Aethiopia, before embarking on a tour of all Asia and Europe,
teaching the arts of cultivation wherever he went.
Your silly muse always makes you lose—
The muse I love helps me rise above.
Such maudlin prattle passing for art
Offends my muse’s fiery heart.
You dither around with weak sentimental observations, verbose deviations, and matriarchal abominations. You insult the Muse to her face but you are so lacking in lyrical discernment you don’t even realize you have offended her. You think life is a risk-free endeavor. You make me CRINGE, you cheapeners of poetry. Though you think you birth verse into being, you cannot conceive a message worthy of delivery in urgency, you fake midwives. You coo and you sigh and you scribble some ass-kissing commentary but you do not have POETRY in your SOUL! Poetry takes no prisoners and poetry KNOWS where you LIVE! Poetry is not playing.
This mythical being is quite professional;
Musing on weakness, she sharpens her sword,
While she composes your death processional:
Dull and dispassionate. Such is your word.
FINAL PROMPT 2026:
write your own poem that discusses a real or mythical being or profession
with a musing yet dispassionate tone.
CONNECT/HOOK 