A La

I've never had a gift for imitation

For writing like I think that others thought;

I'm simply not that good at observation

At working out the way a word was wrought.

Instead of teasing out the tangled knot

Of what I've read, I simply cut right through;

I analyze the way it was begot

But to read well is not a route to do.

I do not claim my writing is all new

As if I were untouched by prior knowledge;

But I must write my lines without a cue

Not even that which I now teach in college.

Thus though I must profess myself well-read

The words I write come from the heart instead.