In Greek mythology the muses preside over the arts and inspire writers and artists to produce works of genius. In "Frenzy," Catherine Owen pays homage to the muses in a six-part compilation of muse-quests, some the author's, some those of others.
In "Flood-ghazals," she takes the leaping form of the Persian ghazal and makes it fluid, out of control entirely, loosened from its couplet bounds and set free as an unravelled block of threads. "Cobalt Moments" are paeans to a place and its temporal inhabitants--a punk/metal bar in Vancouver and some of its crazy denizens, an attempt to capture the rhythms of this hypnotizing zone of intense music and liminal people. "Opposite Angel's" is a satirical fable of the muse-seeker. How the artist, perhaps unwittingly, ends up placing their muses, especially when they are human, alive, and of the desired gender, on a pedestal. "One Week in Her Life" covers eight random days, in which the poet rambles through the urban world, facing various incongruities, griefs, absurdities, while reveling in little glimpses of peace. "agitate" is a long poem about a photographer's sojourn along a Vancouver Island beach on a trek to chronicle sea surfaces. Environmental, gendered, and artistic critique collide in her mental and physical reality as she dreams of emerging from the frenzy to establish one pure moment of beauty in the world.