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Leonard J. CirinoMarch 30, 2009

Whoever hears voices has heard the muses.
Sometimes the devil whispers with malice.
With hope, the mad poet listens for Jesus.

Often it’s chaos, at times it’s curses.
The devil’s breath causes fear and injustice.
Whoever hears voices has heard the muses.

It’s what one hears, but not what one chooses:
no single song but a tangle of voices.
With hope, the mad poet listens for Jesus.

No one can say it’s the thoughts he deduces—
for him there is no other choice.
Whoever hears voices has heard the muses.

He doesn’t speak of what the mind confuses
with sin. He learns to absolve and rejoice.
With hope, the mad poet listens for Jesus.

Some call him saint, others sinner. His verses
display and dispel his forms of madness.
Whoever hears voices has heard the muses,
with hope, the mad poet listens for Jesus.

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