"god"/Oprah

What is the poem doing in the story? Benjamin Nugent could have just said the poem existed, described what it was about, and left it at that. But he wrote the poem. How is it as a poem? Is it a good poem?

I think the poem contributed not just to the veneration of Melanie (“God”) but also to this kind of fraternity legend about Nutella. It’s a pretty good poem. It’s possible that poem could have just existed as a concept but the poem gives us an insight about where “Oprah” is in all of this. Oprah, who seemed most impressed by its descriptions was inspired to add his own lines (about Nutella). He sees Melanie as a “secret collaborator” and you really get the idea that he fixates on this poem to the point of distraction because he harbors at best some romantic feelings for Nutella and had built this fantasy around him, from his “too-imaginative joke,” the consulting firm headed by Nutella, to his “unsportsmanlike dreams.” The poem is also the catalyst for the truth about Oprah’s feelings towards Nutella (and possibly his sexual orientation), which quickly turns into a complicated dilemma – after he and Melanie actually do have sex (and she’s upset after this revelation about what he was really thinking) implores her not to write a poem revealing anything about what he said about Nutella or anything to do with him at all, afraid of some serious consequence, possibly being ostracized from his fraternity. He fears his world will crumble.