An American Prophet

[rowens]

I can defend whatever I need to. That's part of the chore. This is a poem, but the writing doesn't stop with the poem. Not for me. The poem goes on. It's like a blob that absorbs everything. As a poem, it's something I wrote while drinking and on drugs. I wrote the poem, but the prophet is speaking. I don't defend the poem, but the character. Not even the character of the character, just the character. Like a man whose son drinks and drives. Drinks and drives and ends up killing a mother and child on the highway. He's mine and I'm defending him. That's the way this poem works: If you don't like the character, then don't like him. The character is bigger than the poem. The poem is hardly important. If I got my wife pregnant while blind drunk, should I not love my son?