Some will swear that loves’ the thing
Yet they will define it as they will
Excluding whatever doesn’t fancy them
To include under the banner of love.

And you’ve got to watch them every minute
Because they’re likely to rule out—
Should it happen to strike them that way
In some certain moment—
The very sternness of God
For example
As if that were not loving—
Or reason—
Or knowledge and fact—
Or even the prodding or
Correcting of a good parent—

And so I’m all for love
But could we please
Let God be the one
Who gets to define it
By the whole of his
Long-standing example
In the scriptures
Rather than us defining it
To suit ourselves?