The Three Muses

I find the early mythology about the Muses compelling; little else acknowledges the human spirit and it’s everyday need to thrive by creative expression.  By the early mythologies, it is wholly natural to be  opened up and filled with transcendent qualities; wonder, knowledge, beauty, inspiration- starting points for all arts.  Most have heard of the seven or nine Muses, (epic poetry, history, love poetry, music, tragedy, hymms,  dance, comedy, astronomy).  These may seem archaic, but we could easily replace the terms with our own contemporary art forms. What fascinates me are the first accounts of the earliest three Muses.

“Three ancient Muses were also reported in Plutarch’s Quaestiones Conviviviales (9.I4.2-4).^[5] The Roman scholar Varro relates that there are only three Muses: one who is born from the movement of water, another who makes sound by striking the air, and a third who is embodied only in the human voice. They were Melete or Practice, Mneme or Memory and Aoide or Song.”  wikipedia.

Mneme was the Muse of thought and meditation.

Melete literally means “ponder” and “contemplation” in Greek.

Aoidē means “song” or “voice”.

In my poem below, a conversation by the sea, about these first Muses. The Wordle below gave more words to use.

Three Muses

First there were three, and three men to argue by firelight, what form, what need bore them to be. 

Space,  the tallest said. Piercing all darkness, filling the void to reignite the stars, its air the first to hold all form and fluid, tension and spark. The first to carry dream into wonder.

Water, said the small one.  And the stirring, strident life that dove,
mixing water with air, a dappled swish of her tail. She who rippled the night’s delirium, crossed the threshold.  Gave Memory its motion.  Imagination traveling beyond itself to tell a story.  The first.

Nay, said the third. Seems She that swam from a nautilus shell, would be the first to pleat the sea with waves of sound. Transcend mere ears with mystery.  Carry the divine spark rippling and remembered, to the longing Soul.  Quicksilver mirror, tone on pitch, the waiting voice.  Heart spills over in song.

Tara Linda   Copyright 2011. vs. 5

Morning Muse #28- Poem

Source: Eddie Colla.  find the poster here-  5733

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Another Muse
grounded in the shadows
of this urban playground
peers out as I pass- knowing
I won’t see her,  she smiles
beautiful defiance
leans flat against cold cement
waits 5 seconds before tossing the gold
can into the street, rolling south
into blooming dandelions.

I turn slowly, to see,
white sparks dance in the air
bright against a corrugated fence
blood-red rust

seeds set free
in the morning sun.

Oh MLK Muse, how I love you and this game you play on Mondays.

Day 10 Poems~ Archival Memory

Archival Memory

You bathe in forms I’ve never met

But if memory serves                     without the sugar coat,
When you were singing villanelles, offering odes,
cornering quatrains with your lacy sestina-

I counted dorsal spines             en route to the caudal
pulled septa from segments of               earthworm erata
tapped a thorax for its secrets.

In Spring, algae were celebrated by their pigments
the way cherry blossoms bloomed your haiku.
(rhodophytes rule).                   I can’t hold it against you

Archival dust made us both sneeze.

Jealous Muse

Time for a million
& none for me- gives zero
to the bossa waiting patiently.
We could sip wine & light a fuse
taxes & death are no excuse.

copyright Tara Linda 2011

Day 6 Poem- My Second Muse

My Second Muse     (A prose poem)   Day 6. NaPoWriMo

When the second Muse came, She filled the house with laughter, promises and a faint scent of jasmine mixed with lemon grass.  At first, ‘this is too much’ I thought, just returned from the South Seas, waiting to meet her in the foyer. But she refused to show her face, racing barefoot down the hall in gossamer thread and giggles.

More shy than the first, happier, more impish, this Muse rose early, pulling curtains to wake us, tossing things carelessly and humming in a voice so faint you had to strain to hear… “fireflies and little lies are all I want for breakfast!”.   My laughter would bring her closer.   She was Silly but Industrious, working late into the night on sweet tea and blackberries… wearing velvet hats, pearls, and exotic ribbons.   Soon she sang  constantly.  I borrowed her keys for silk thread transitions, while she danced tempos and  allegrettos con brio.

A dark swallow, she hovered and dove while I worked- throwing things if she heard notes misplaced, giggling in G when vibrato behaved- but all wordless. Until the day I placed certain lyrics within the cove of one of her melodies- the one with the flying tempos and swan dive horns. I was thinking of one South Easterly with a certain laugh pattern as I scratched lyrics in indigo-

“Don’t dare waste my melody on that one.” Her voice was sweet. Firm.  Low. “These notes are ONLY for the Ones You Have Yet to Meet.”

Her ONLY made me resist. She stamped her feet. I explained. She shouted. I defended. She pouted. Woods beneath us swelled and retreated. Drama came for Days to the little green house, rain pouring all around us.   Thundering mad, we ate in silence, skirting all shadows and obvious artifacts.   We finished several songs, between storms, but this one had us loggerhead red for four nights.

Until the morning- she stood crying at the side of my bed,  “Stupid girl!  To waste such Beauty on fumeroles!- fat and spouting toxic! When will you learn! I’m leaving” she declared.  I paniced. “No. We’re not finished.   You give me no robato! Please- Just give one clue about the One  I Should Be Writing For- I can’t see through this passion play!”   She sat up straight through crystal tears. “’Bout time you asked.”

“They will be 5 in 1.  And playing my ghost notes- the ones I made you write with invisible ink on papyrus sash.  And they will be smiling.  For you. My smile.  Because you will finally sing my secrets lighter than air.

“Best Debut CD’s of 2010- Tortilla Western Serenade” #6

 

Just found out that my new Americana CD got selected on this chart~ Best of Freeform American Roots Chart for

#6 Debut Album of 2010- Tortilla Western Serenade.

Woo… fun surprise!

With the New Year 2011, I confess, I felt a tinge of bittersweet emotion, even melancholy.  2010 was a big year; I put so much time & energy into reaching one sweet goal, one that yielded so much creative joy, so many unknowns, partnerships, & fruitfulness, that I’m still savoring.  There was this nagging question as the clocks turned a new year… “how can 2011 come close?”

My goal this last year was to create something new- a sound I don’t hear; a collection of songs in a “new genre” I called Tortilla Western (spaghetti western meets Tex-Mex)- with strong female attitude running thru it.  (We need more of all that ;!)   But it was the music (or the Muses?)  that guided me, that decided what the theme would be;  I just noticed a pattern.  After the first 3 songs, it all became a journey to savor places, people, and dramas (literal & figurative) as I traveled stomping grounds of my Southwest upbringing from California, Arizona, to Texas.  Each song was a story; and each story told in a different rhythmic form- haupango, bolero, waltz/ranchera, cumbia.  (inner drummer just can’t stop exploring those rhythms…:)    I learned lots, working with such fine musicians in magical cool places along the way. 

The project finished mid year 2010.  To promote it- solo & w/ the band- we toured Northern California, China, Texas, the Southwest.

This “Best of FAR (free form American Roots) chart is put together by DJs who actually pick their own music- in the US & Europe- so, what an honor to wind up in the mix.  I admit, I have a small problem celebrating successes along the way, kinda like not noticing the roses blooming…  Maybe it’s upbringing, or…constant cultural pressure to keep the horizon in sight.  Or maybe its just the grit of survival.  But i’m celebrating this one, and the journey that got me here. Thankfully my friends remind me too…

It’s all about the journey.          

Savoring the journey, one dream at a time- start to finish. Happily, performing now w/ my bandmates is such a joy; show & tell.

This picture shows my sweetest performing minute of 2010;  playing next to El Maestro Flaco Jimenez.  A dream.  He is the most gracious, kind, selfless, accomplished, musician (legend!) ever. And thank you Hohner & Gilbert for planting seeds, and supporting this dream from the start.

And maybe that’s it…why the new year felt a lil blue; I’m in love with the journey of creating and putting it out there, but this year isn’t starting off with the same intense passion.   No matter.  Either way, I never know how the Muses will play it out.  Looking back, before the cd TWS was off the presses, the Muses had me by the tail again- generously inspiring more, and completely different songs & genre.  It’s like being used as a conduit.  I just have to keep my antennae up, stay open, stay out of the way- and serve.

So to you, Sweet Muses- I toast your presence and the mysterious ways you show your graces,   Here’s to the journey, the cool DJs that take time to find new music, sweet friends/fans, and the unexpected places we could wind up in 2011.  

A Showdown with the Muse

On my new CD, Tortilla Western Serenade, the song “Muse’s Duel” was inspired by a visit from the Muse when she was particularly testy. Gorgeous & sassy, dressed in a billowing peasant’s dress, & this time sauntering into my wild west dream town shouting an edgy do-or-die challenge to “blow me away!” with music, or she would take me down.  Townsfolk shifted uncomfortably in the dusty street, thirsty to see a showdown.  I awoke in a sweat; “how will I survive a showdown with the best?!”

She confronts me in the chorus:

“Go ahead, amaze me!
I’ll make it up as you go.
Go ahead and take me down
swallow me whole…”

You can hear it here:  http://taralinda.bandcamp.com/track/muses-duel

I sang this for years just on bass, solo.  It was a little more haunting then, but so nice to hear it now brought to life by the energy of bandmates and friends.

This has become my epitome song for the “Tortilla Western” sound I’ve been creating the last several years; part spaghetti western, part Tex-Mex, & rock.  A sound I don’t hear very much, and so songs I had to write & sing to fill the void.  The Southwest has a definite soundscape to it (more on that soon…).

Trumpet is by Al Gomez- (Westside Horns) in San Antonio, flamenco guitar David Gonzales.  Recorded at Wavelab Studios Tucson by Craig Schumacher (Devotchka, Neko Case, Calexico).

Following the Muse~

So I wanted to start a Muse’s Blog to hear and tell of the Muse’s meanderings wherever s/he goes, and to follow them wherever they are.  The Muses come to my world when I’m making music, writing poetry, making jewelry…and they always leave me content and awestruck-   (“How did that just happen!!”)  Of course they don’t always stay close.   I want to hear/see how the Muse travels others’ creative worlds too.

Sometimes the Muses visiting me are taunting when they arrive (“you only call when you want something.  Good luck!!”).  Other times they are kind and endearing.  Either way, they always impel, or leave me with something to think about (even if only abuse .  Inspiration is everywhere, but I think the Muses show up when we are meant to find something particular and to actively search follow something through to the end.  The Muses prod us- sometimes to just breathe in what inspires- from a distance;  sometimes to lose ourselves completely in some sweet act of creativity.