the commandments

they're big and they're decimal
written in stone
one's about an ox
one demands, thou shalt love

just who commands? surely not
that smiling fat buddha, no--
a king
a lord before whom you kneel
begging for enough to build
your own fortress 
you, princeling
of this tyrant who commands love
why? Can it not be pillaged?
Must he insist?

Any child knows: love 
is spontaneous as laughter
and cannot be commanded
even for the ​amusement of the god
who demands love in exchange
​for protection from what he made