To Become a Poet...

take the leaf of a tree
trace its exact shape
the outside edges
and inner lines

memorize the way
it is fastened to the twig
(and how the twig
arches from the branch)
how it springs forth in April
how it is panoplied in July

by late August
crumple it in your hand
so that you smell
its end-of-summer sadness

chew its woody stem

listen to its autumn rattle

watch it as it atomizes
in the November air

then in winter
when there is no leaf left

invent one


Eve Merriam
Reply to the Question
"How Can You
Become A Poet?"