10:26 a.m. Good morning! Yesterday I spoke at a local writers group about the importance of promoting poetry. It’s one of the duties of my position as a poet laureate. I talked about how I had impostor syndrome and couldn’t think of myself as a poet for a long time. Almost right up until I became poet laureate.

But I’m a poet now. Even when I’m not writing poetry, I’m a poet. Even when I wrote my novel and published it, I was a poet.

Today, I’m going to write a response to one of my favorite poems, which was handed out at the writers group yesterday. Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. In it, he mourns the loss of springtime and youth. The best part of life, according to Frost, is the beginning. Spring. Youth. First love’s first days.

But to me, I’m only just getting to the best part. The part where I really know who I am. Where the sidewalk begins.

10:31 a.m. Excuse me, I need to brush the cat.

10:36 a.m. Seriously, he jumped up on the desk and demanded to be brushed. Anyway, the way I’m going to write my response is to use the same pattern Frost used for his poem.

Rhyme scheme: A,A, B,B, C,C, D,D. So four rhyming couplets. They’re not long lines, either. Syllable count for each line: 1:6, 2:6, 3:7, 4:7, 5:6, 6:6, 7:6, 8:5.

The final line is the title of the poem.

So I’ll start with my final line. Five syllables.

10:42 a.m.

Live a golden life.

I like that. Okay, here we go.

Live a Golden Life
by Michelle Garren-Flye

You mourn the loss of youth
Waste time but here's the truth

10:51 a.m. Took a break to chat with a customer. Back at it now.

Live a Golden Life
by Michelle Garren-Flye

You mourn the loss of youth,
waste time but here's the truth:
no season takes all the gold;
there's always plenty to hold.
Winter sunsets, fall leaf,
summer rose suspends grief.
Jealousy causes strife.
Live a golden life.

11:02 a.m. Not too bad, eh? Not up to Robert Frost’s standards most likely, and he would most likely dismiss my “reply” out of hand, but I give him only a shrug emoji.