Lovegod

Whatever man loves is his god,
Wrote Luther, who also opined

That Copernicus was a fool
Trying too hard to be clever

Overturning astronomy,
Since the Bible said Joshua,

Needing more daylight to fight in,
Bid the sun to stop, not the Earth.

But alright, whatever you love
Is your god. Ada Limón wrote

Recently that her family
Loved singing together like faith.

That sounds nice. It would be cringey,
In Luther’s context, to simply

Say that you loved your family.
As gods? Some folks are worshipful

Of their ancestors, notably
Less so of their living parents.

What do you love that’s not shameful
To have as your god? Luther’s point,

Of course, was that you’d better love
The one God that he loved, the real one.

But you could love some spot sacred
To you, some sweet intersection

Between nowhere and nothing much
You’re careful to identify

Exactly to no one, a bend
In a country road, a stone shore

By a high pond or a deep lake,
Or just the alley by the side

Of a provincial city street
Where sun falls in and floods the bricks,

Since, god, it is the sun that seems
To move, and not Earth, isn’t it?