Comparison Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

I try to write a poem
Then recall great poets
Writing on similar themes,
And feel ashamed
My substance, words and images
Are so simple, mixed-up
I discard the effort.

After all, Imitation is slavish.
It is fear of not able
To write like Eliot, Hopkins or Keats.
‘Desiring this man’s art, or that man’s scope’:
I fondly ask 'Is it right to compare? '

I am unique, each is special,
As Touchstone, I wed my Audrey.
I write what is mine, refine it and leave it;
To read it or not, whether it will survive,
Where, and when, happens behind me.