A kiss goodbye, a sigh the breath of a humming bird the sacred word and all its splendor the night's arrival, sweet and tender illuminating the universe, gibbous moon a first kiss and the ensuing swoon A Letter to a Muse is a collection of poetry which written almost entirely in the Fall of 2002, as a letter of introduction to poet and writer I hold in high esteem. There are 222 poems in this volume. Half are illustrated originals created solely by the author. The vast majority were written between August and December of 2002.

The subsequent half of the book consists of entries inspired by other poet's celebrated work. Some are purposeful parodies, others playful parities—all serious inquisition and introspection. The vast majority of these poems were written in response to the reading of the other poem, and a scant few simply thematically matched previously written work. There were 100 referenced works in all. I am currently working on illustrating those and will post them to the site as they are finished. I wil try to provide a link to the other author's poem if it is available on the Web. Otherwise, I will only cite the poet's name and poem's title, so as not to infringe copyrights.

I have noted the source of inspiration for the poems of part two at the bottom left-hand corner of each poem. If my poem was composed subsequent to reading someone else’s poem the footnote is written as “afflatus (divine inspiration): title of poem, author.” However, if my poem was written before, and I found there simply to be a significant similarity that subsequently merited a comparison, than the notation begins “arcades ambo (of the same ilk): title of poem, author.” If I was able to find the esteemed poem online, a link is provided in the list of "Links to Parity Poems" located at the top of the navigation bar on the left-hand side of the screen. The poems are in alphabetical order by title.

As a clarification, I would like to note that these are not meant to be antiphonies, for they are not direct responses to verse. With the exception of poem 222, there is no attempt to imagine a dialogue with either the poet or the original poem.

I would like to acknowledge all the muses past, present and future who inspire my work, life herself being the most giving one. I am forever grateful.

Most of all I would like to thank the most important muse in my life, my wife, Domenica. As my partner and as the mother of our two boys, I am overjoyed to be fortunate enough to have her as the guiding light that makes our humble house into a home.

I dedicate this here humble work to you,
Dear Domenica, sweet love, my 2.22