Advice to Poets about the Beginning of Fall

I wrote this several years ago, because I’d been seeing poets/writers using images and words about Fall that they “stole” from other writers/poets.  No plagiarism, just unconscious repetition.

Happy Autumn, folks.

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Autumn Caveat

 

“It’s mornings like this;
The stingy sun trying to hold back
Even the warmth of its reflection
Flashing cold fire in the lake.
When November leaves drop in sudden gusts,
Like a red and yellow flock of birds
Swooping at once to ground.
Or even nights:
When winds reach wet hands
To take you spinning with random paper
Down back street gutters, under straining bridges
To clogged rivers.
It’s this:
The time of year, along with spring,
When poets must take care
Not to sing the same songs
Stolen from tribal memory.”
–   Thomas R. Drinkard