Muse Abuse

You say we’re put on this Earth to amuse
ourselves; to summon an indulgent Muse
to teach us to write and sing
words of little meaning.

I think I was put on this Earth to abuse
myself; to invoke an impatient Muse
to dismiss me, silently calling
me a love-starved Sisyphus striving.

— Stace Johnson, 1986