Muse is the center of attention
She sings in her famous language
Women unburden their souls
Men young and old are dazzled
She twirls hands over her head,
Does classic dance kicks
She whispers dreams into waiting ears
She & I eat from each others hands
We drink from one unending wine glass
She leans into me, “I so love gatherings,”
She says, her eyes shining into mine,
Happiness. A female who visits
Asks if we are wed or friends
Neither of us answer, then both
Of us laugh together. I find words first.
Today, now, we are friends.

Angelo Verga curates @ 350 literary readings per year at the seminal Cornelia Street Cafe, in Manhattan, & elsewhere. His poems have appeared in Rattle, Manhattan Review, Massachusetts Review, New Orleans Poetry Forum, Blue Mesa Review, Saint Ann's Review, Paterson Literary Review, New York Quarterly, The Temple, Connecticut Poetry Review, Barrow Street, Heliotrope, and numerous other journals. A Hurricane Is (Jane Street Press, 2003) is currently in a third printing. His most recent collection, 33 New York City Poems (2005) is published by Booklyn.