Loved it! 😍

A slim poetry collection with graceful words - evocative, emotive, and engaging - and beautiful metaphors.

Synopsis

What do you write about when words won’t come easy?

The Muted Muse explores the space between the creative urge and writer’s block. In her first standalone chapbook of poetry, Jocelyne Smallian-Khan quiets the “lizard brain” of self-doubt, rejecting imposter syndrome, and facing the void of the blank page head on.

This little collection offers a variety of poetic forms to enjoy: short poems; haiku, free verse, humorous poems, confessional poetry, and declarations of self-deprecation and self-affirmation.

All writers have been there - when words become silent and the pen can't reveal the depths of thoughts. It creates a craving and a certain despondency that only a revival of the creative spree can cure. In The Muted Muse: a poetry collection, Jocelyne Smallian-Khan elaborates on the anguish of the writers' block.

The book cover takes us to a pre-computer era, where writers composed to the rhythmic clickity-clack of a typewriter. The first line in the book is reminiscent of a time that many of the 1990s generations do not know. Dreamtype, a poem in the collection, is an ode to the typewriters that one may only find in attics and museums. The poet wonders if technology is stealing our muse and if we need to go back to the silence of pen and paper and the symphony of typewriter sounds. The typewriter ribbons have run dry because of disuse as the poet pursues her muse.

The writer is aware of the logjam of ideas and thoughts piling in her mind, all without an outlet.

"The thing I write about most

Is having nothing to write about"

The reader embarks on a journey filled with graceful words - evocative, emotive, and engaging - and beautiful metaphors, like the itch of an idea, a slice of insight.

I loved the piece - 2 AM - that resonates with the struggle of most creative souls. The afternoons demand rest, and the nights are an insomniac haven. There is an interesting poem on "Adam" where she speaks about the burden of legacy:

"How curious it must be

To be your father's son"

This is a slim volume, and some pieces are of just three lines. Experimental and creative, it is not the number of words but the meaning in each that counts. Dig in and find our interpretation of the poet in pursuit of the muse.

Reviewed by

I am a technical writer and editor by profession and a creative writer in my free time. My poetry and fiction are published in various anthologies. I like to explore the world of words. I express my perspective on books, art, and life on my blog: https://www.bluepenstrokes.com

Synopsis

What do you write about when words won’t come easy?

This little collection offers a variety of poetic forms to enjoy: short poems; haiku, free verse, humorous poems, confessional poetry, and declarations of self-deprecation and self-affirmation.

Sample

Name: The Muted Muse: a poetry collection
Item: The Muted Muse: a poetry collection
Rating: 4
Author: Aneesha Shewani

The Muted Muse

A Poetry Collection

Jocelyne Smallian-Khan

Jocelyne Smallian-Khan / Smallian-Khan Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without express permission in writing from the author/publisher.

For information contact:

jjsmalliankhan@gmail.com

http://www.jjsk.ca

ISBN: 978-1-7780584-0-0

First Print Edition: January 2022

E-Book : ISBN 978-1-7780584-1-7 (March 2022)

Blocked

The ribbon, runs dry

The muse, is mute

Jocelyne Smallian-Khan

Table of Contents

Inarticulate .................................................. 2

Dreamtype ................................................... 3

Silent Typewriter ........................................ 4

The Muse .................................................... 5

At the desk .................................................. 6

Quiet Lizard ................................................ 7

Blank Canvas .............................................. 8

Blank Paper ................................................. 9

Remembering ............................................ 10

Retreat ....................................................... 11

Delete, delete ............................................. 12

Driverless .................................................. 13

So Much Rage ........................................... 14

Human Failure .......................................... 15

I think… .................................................... 16

Creative Drought ....................................... 17

Diversion ................................................... 18

Silence ....................................................... 19

2AM .......................................................... 20

Noaughts ................................................... 21

Adam ......................................................... 22

Pretense ..................................................... 23

About the Author ...................................... 24

More from Jocelyne .................................. 25

Inarticulate

The itch of an idea

Prickling in my brain

It scurries and scrabbles into corners

Eluding catch…

Eluding scratch…

The sting of inspiration swells

Throbbing, throbbing

My pulse beats with a need to create

Something…

Anything…

A slice of insight

Slashing my soul

My gasping psyche stretches out

Reaching…

Screeching…

Beseeching…

Dreamtype

I have been dreaming of typewriters

Old manual Underwoods

And electric Olivettis

Are appearing nocturnally

In my mind’s meanderings

Remington reminiscences

Chunka-chuka and clickity-clickty

Pages rolling up and down

ziiip... ziiip

Striiitch... Thunkkk... Dinggg

Maybe my mind is telling me

That I should step away

From the computer

And get reacquainted

With an old friend

...Dinggggg

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