Old Poems Poem by Mary Champion

I strive for originality, yet
I only have old poems: reused rhymes;
old rhythms that have certainly been met
in other people's work a dozen times.
The words I use are not unique to me.
The themes are not original - not new.
They all have been reprocessed endlessly-
despair and love and loss to name a few.
Great poets conjure fresh words from thin air.
Will Shakespeare gave us hundreds, so ‘tis said.
My metaphors aren't startling or rare,
but hackneyed, commonplace - even inbred.
I only have old poems - patchwork verse;
recycled scraps that someone else wrote first.