(Genesis 2)
“Just for you I made this orchard
with a warning: You’ll be tortured
if you eat this one fruit,” said Yahweh.
And Adam, innocent, nodded.
“I don’t want you to feel lonely.
I’ll make beasts to keep you company.
And, as one by one I frame them
you can pleasurably name them.”
“This one’s Pussy! Here’s Tit!” Adam laughed.
“And Cock!” he giggled. “Here comes Ass!”
But before long Adam got bored,
a concern to his worrisome lord.
So then Yahweh created Knife
to carve out of Adam his wife.
But he didn’t bother to tell Eve
to abstain from the fatal tree.
He took sabbath-rest in Eden
while the children played in the garden.
Honest Serpent revealed the lie:
Eve could eat the fruit and not die.
The tree was a delight to the eyes
and was desired to make one wise.
The fruit looked sweet, and Eve ate:
Eating might bring wisdom to her mate.
Then she gave a bite to Adam
to evaluate the datum.
That’s how mankind lost its innocence
without prior experience.
“The woman whom you gave to be
with me, she gave me fruit from the tree,”
Adam said when Yahweh found out.
“Life, Edenless, shall bring you drought,
yet your days shall be filled with sweat.”
“Every childbirth shall be like death,
but your husband shall be your jewel
yet always to be under his rule.”
.
Duane Vorhees
.