The world is on fire
Go halfway ‘round
To find my muse

To the ruined temples of Selinunte
Invoked the names of my ancestors
Sang the names of each of the Muses
In true mixolydian mode

They told me I’ve been
Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman and Greek
Vandal and Arab, Norman and Kriti
From the Mediterranean and Adriatic,
Aegean to the Peloponnese
Albanian and Ottoman where west meets east
Skanderbeg’s daughter overlooking azure water
Walking lava fields of Vesuvius
Burned by Mt Etna’s rage

I have lived in the holy lands
And the not so holy lands
I’ve been Muslim and Jew
Lombard and Sicel
The whore and the Madonna

The archer and the vassal
Every one beat down
Every temple toppled
Only the Muses live on in our souls
To rebuild peace through art

The world is on fire
Go halfway ‘round
To find my muse

She’s always been right here

BARBARA ANN BRANCA has read from her chapbook Flash Flood on National Public Radio and at venues throughout New York City and Long Island Author of several science books, a former college adjunct and university communications director with lifelong passions for the environment and music, she’s never shy about stepping up to the microphone.