The Marsh in Which He Swam

If gods could just leave fossils
For the theological
Historians to dig up,

They could be reconstructed
Footprint to foot, foot to jaw
(A god of awesome aspect

Would look pathetic toothless),
Molars to divine diet,
Diet to ecosystem—

Aha! The ecosystem
Of the gods, now wouldn’t that
Be something? Once, predators

Were your monsters, gods your selves
But greater, phenomena
Of nature but like humans,

Talking lightning, forest fires,
Earthquakes for conversations,
In short, your ecosystems.

What does lightning eat, if not
Leviathan, sea monster?
What do earthquakes eat but Earth?

Every season is the spoor
Of some god passing, space-time
The sun god’s ecosystem.