Legalism (Theology)

If poetry was my god, and poems my prayer,

then by god, I was a legalist.

Read back those passion pleas:

words stuck inside the metered lines

each other line forced in to rhymes

and so on.

If poetry was my god, and what I read my doctrine,

then by god, I followed scripture.

Who cares how relevant John Keats

Why write the next Kubla Khan

 Where did I find the time to labor every night?

If poetry was my god, and was angry with me,

it showed me it was real

when it disappeared, as summer faded,

without an answer or a question.

August 4