Thank you Alder and Maryann, for your thoughtful comments, and for coming to my rescue, so to speak. Of course, my intent was only to comment on a poem I find extremely interesting and deeply meaningful, not at all to challenge authority (although I've been known to do that).
In any event, if I had been involved in the original thread, I would have shouted loudly against using fiat in that last line. It's really a matter of intended audience. If a poem is written for the literati, then it is okay to fiat them to death. But if it is written for the rest of us, who are smart but not very smart, then it is important to get a reality-check before setting the words in concrete.
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