Melanie Simms is an internationally published poet who employs the written language much like an artist wields a brush. As former Poet Laureate of Perry County, Pennsylvania and the Founder and President of the Association of Pennsylvania Poets Laureate, her talent is clearly heralded by many and matched only by the spirit of the muse, lighting a beacon for the soul, much the way a light house provides light for lost ships. Waking the Muse is the first in a series of recent poetic pursuits, with new works progressing quickly on the follow-up. Melanie Simms' poems transcend international boundaries; as her poetry regularly sees publication in countries such as Wales, Canada, England and Australia. You will enjoy her poems best with your heart open, allowing her muses to take you on a journey of wonder that you will not soon forget. Ms. Simms poems speak of diverse themes that reach the cosmic heart, unveiling a symphony of image. --- Bam Dev Sharma, Poet and Dept. Chief, Campus of International Languages, Tribhaven University, Nepal Melanie Simms' moving poems, the best, are well observed, telling, timely and truly speak from the heart. -- Robert Sward, University of California, Santa Cruz This collection of poems speaks to the many emanations of the Muse as Melanie Simms has experienced them. As a whole, they capture the various lights and shadows that compromise the complex and always mysterious timbres of her life--the dissonant sorrows and the rainbow dream. Waking the Muse is an ode to the constant hope of the morning sun Michael S. Glaser, Poet Laureate of Maryland; St. Mary's College Deeply rooted in the Romantic tradition, her poetry is by turns humorous, mocking, serious and heart wrenching. - Gary Young, Poet and Printer, Greenhouse Press Review