Calliope and Clio

I have two muses. 
Two sisters ensnared
in a stormy sibling rivalry
for my soul.  

Clio, the stronger of the two, and
assisted by Athena and Pluto, 
wisdom and wealth, 
set me on the path
to ancient histories -
knowledge I shared with others.  

Calliope could not compete with Clio, 
but she whispered sweet words as we went.  
Words that became so heavy, 
I had to write to let them lose.  

Then she would whisper to Clio,
"You are not as strong as you think you are."

As prose and poetry poured out of me, 
lightening my load,
Clio would start tugging.  
"It is time to move on," 
she said.  "Time to follow the road 
of history and knowledge again."  
Athena and Pluto nodded in agreement,
pointing to their treasures down the way.

What Clio does not see, 
in her impatience to travel,
is that every time I stop for Calliope, 
new words mix with the old, 
growing bigger than the whole.  
What Athena does not see 
is I am getting tired 
of being on the road.
Pluto does not understand
there is more than one kind of wealth.

I have less need for wealth.  
But words sustain me.
Although the two muses
still battle for my soul, 
Calliope has already won.