Thursday, March 02, 2006

The errant muse


It’s come to this. Open the dictionary at random, stab my finger at a word, see where it takes me. Winter freezes my face when I venture out and freezes my energy no matter where I am. I have contracted… something…some unnamed thing that requires a diet of toast and Aspirin. But I digress. My finger lands on the word:

Kindle/’kind(ə)l/ v. (-ling) 1. light, catch, or set something on fire. 2. Arouse or inspire. 3. become aroused or animated. [Old Norse]
-The Oxford Dictionary of Current English

which, of course, immediately leads me (as it would anyone, I'm sure) to check my notes on Norse Runes:

Kennaz
/ kāne-ăwze Fire of the torch. Rune 6 of the Elder Futhark, 1st aett. Chip of pine wood used to illuminate. The polar opposite of the rune, Is (Ice), which symbolizes the static principle. Rune of the mystery of transformation. What permits us to see. Bringer of light.
from: The Secret Lore of Runes and other Ancient Alphabets – Nigel Pennick

My muse (the dirty little traitor) is sipping Mai Tais in a cheesy, conch shell decorated bar in Florida, I just know it. She’s wearing capris, high heels, big hair and too much lipstick and about three Mai Tais ago, her vision blurred enough for her to start considering that the greasy Lothario across the bar ( who is wanted in three states for various fraud charges) looks kind of interesting.

If anyone sees her, please pump some coffee into her and tell her, if she can fit it in, I’m waiting to be kindled.