Dear {Name},
Your poetry is amazing. I've admired your work for many years and consider myself one of your biggest fans.
Stupidly, I claimed credit for your words in a recent {publication/poetry slam}. I incorporated lines from {poem} into something I'd written.
Of course, I was immediately called out by someone familiar with your writing—and rightly so. I'm embarrassed and ashamed.
I've given a good deal of thought (and tears) to why I plagiarized your poem. I think what happened was that your words spoke so deeply to my heart that somehow I conflated your poem with my own experience. This is no excuse, just a bit of an explanation.
Stealing your poem was wrong, disrespectful, and illegal. I hope you can forgive me. I won't forgive myself.
Sincerely,
{Name}
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