Stretching
The only beast which needs a sense of praise
And prayer, the animal which wants to turn the sky
To similes and metaphors, then raise
The universe to something more than eye
Can find, the one who wills out poetry
And art decides he needs a spirit god.
One being dreams he has a soul to see
Beyond mere life and death. This prideful, odd
Intelligence produces hymn and song.
It’s true that mockingbirds and whales make notes,
But melodies from these do not belong
Among the minds with operatic throats.
The hairy worshipers imagine stars
And moons were written as a God’s memoirs.
~ Phillip Whidden