answered, “I lusted after the fruit but did not taste it
Until the sly serpent urged me to do so.
The serpent told me that he is the deputy of the Creator.
Whatever is in the garden is ours.
I bit the skin and sweet nectar trickled on to my tongue then down my throat.
My breasts titillated; my eyes sparkled;
My hands trembled; my legs froze.
I looked at me then looked at you
And we were both naked. I was so ashamed.
Lightning branches scudded through the blackened skies.
My arms are heavy with sleep and my soul is slipping away.
I am no longer Eve. I am Woman.
In the morning when we awake
We will pluck leaves from the umbrella plant and wrap ourselves in them.”
The two moved toward one another
Their skins tingled with the touch of the other.
Each bonded to the other in sensuality, joy, and shame
Then lapsed into fitful sleep.
When the sun melted the night,
Adam awoke. Eve was no longer next to him.
He called to her. His voice trilled like a flute echoing throughout the valley.
“Where is your hiding place ? Are you behind a rock?
Come out. Let’s gambol by the stream
Let’s stand beneath the waterfall and wash away the heat of the morning.”
“My hands will comb your silken tresses.
My lips will taste them; my nose will sip your delicate fragrance.
Your gazelle pines for you.
The zephyr rises and will cool your breasts.
Let us again drink of the sweet nectar of the peaches.”
Adam was no longer in a familiar place.
Eden was a dream that evaporated.
Eve stepped out of the woods clothed in the leaves of the umbrella plant.
She handed Adam a leaf to conceal his loins.
Hand in hand they walked away from the Valley of Yesterday.
God’s Angry Words etched in their brains followed them throughout the day.
“You disobeyed My commandment. Enmity will divide you from others.
With ebbing strength you will sow your seed and reap your harvest.
With the sweat of your brows will you eat your bread. Your sorrows will multiply.
Never forget your disobedience and err never again.
Teach your children to obey My Words and their children will learn from their example.
You and your children will know no rest until, lifeless, you rejoin the dust of Earth
From whence you sprang. From dust you came and to dust will you return.
You are blessed and you are cursed.
The bridge between us is broken.
You and all of your descendants will spend their lives repairing it. I Am God. “
The Asp’s Lament
The lowly asp slith’rd slowly down
The Tree of Life in Eden’s Wood.
Slinking through the rock-strewn path,
Adam, First Man, of flesh and mind,
Of earth and sea, of joy and tears
Was teaching beasts God’s Moral Laws
Which he himself never fully understood,
Or without hope of reward,
Entirely practiced. Thou shalts; thou musts;
Do not; must not. But he and Eve
God’s Commandment ignored and breached
And with cunning projected blame
On guileless me. I, first victim,
In history accuse you Man
Of duplicity. The tale you altered
So you would look pure. You called me “snake”
In derision. What’s done is done!
I forgive you. Before losing
My power of speech, to you I say,
Admit the truth ‘though it may sting.
Could I, an innocent asp, with a brain inferior
Persuade you, man, with the brain superior
To disobey God’s Commandment?
For acts of your own design
You, alone, are responsible. Amen! Amen!
Lilith, Queen of the Night2
Lilith, Queen of the Night, slyly slithers into the human heart
And germinates seeds of passion
Sown by the Creator at the beginning of Time.
In a cosmic burst she opens the gates of carnal pleasure
And steals the blues, greens, and reds
Hiding within a black curtain,
Separating fleeing Apollo from Saturn’s grasp,
And mixes them as they coalesce
Into an epiphany of angles, lines and arching curves.
Percolating lightning, she twists tongues of orange flame
And flings them at Man and his Woman
Who helplessly writhe in pleasure
Enchanted,
