Poetry connects us to what is deepest in ourselves. It gives us access to our own feelings, which are often shadowy, and engages us in the art of making meaning. It widens the space of our inner lives. It is a magical, mysterious, inexplicable (though not incomprehensible) event in language.
You're alone with yourself and your own feelings and that gives you deeper access to what you need to get in touch with to write poetry.
Civil religion gives American culture its direction and defines its fundamental values, but it does not determine the diversified contents of American national culture.
