I'M a Simple Woman

I read other people's poetry and I wonder to myself, Where do they conjure up their massive vocabulary? The words I don't know, I write down; and I have quite a list. Some of these English words, I know belong somewhere between here and Ireland, but maybe in another century, with Coleridge or Thoreau. But yet, here we go. Betwixt, bemuse, besot, who writes like this? I have looked up more fanciful, interestingly new words in a month than I knew existed, and I used to think I knew some words. Keep them coming, my Poetry Soup pen pals. I am fascinated, and learning a new vocabulary faster than I thought possible. At faculty meetings people are asking, "What are you doing?" I'm looking up words, I tell them. Lots of eye rolling; these are teachers, and many, I am afraid, have not opened a book since college but you didn't hear it from me. I'm a simple woman, not a snitch.