Nine Muses... and a Wife

<p>An unnamed but fairly reliable author employs memoir poetry and fiction to identify nine women who influenced his life and contributed to his development as a writer: a young Japanese girl met during the occupation after World War II a first love in college a promiscuous woman in a room across the alley an Austrian girl encountered on a pilgrimage to Lourdes a first cousin in Vienna a hospital nurse on the night shift a captivating divorcee a younger Viennese cousin a poetess at a writers workshop. A story inspired by each of his muses rounds out the picture But what about his wife? Was Blake right in stating that a wife is not a muse? In the final section the author resolves this issue to his own satisfaction.</p>