EVE'S HUNGER
Was it hunger for the fruit that made me reach
and pluck from the forbidden tree that Autumn day,
that made me turn and smell its fragrance,
see it shining in that slant of light,
walk, then run through weeds above my knees,
shove aside the bending goldenrods
with my bare arms,
ignore the humming bees,
my eyes staring straight ahead
at what I wanted dangling on the lowest branch?
Why did I walk past other trees just as ripe
on paths where I had walked before,
where vines were filled with purple grapes
and berries I had gathered many times with my dear friend?
So why on that late afternoon
standing there alone, knowing I should turn away
as I had so many times before,
why now, listen to a voice whispering,
not sure where it was coming from
or if it was my voice, I didn’t know,
I only knew my heart was beating faster,
my lungs filling up and felt a tremble
that made me run where I had never gone before
and there I was, my fingers grasping
what I knew I shouldn’t touch
and when I closed my eyes and took a bite,
juice running down my chin,
how could I know the hunger I had followed
and the taste my tongue now knew
would ache in me and in my children?
How could I know that summers
would never be the same,
that fruit would never be as sweet again,
that sorrow and bitterness would come
like dark clouds and take away the sun?
Nothing could have stopped my wanting
what was growing where there was no path,
and even now, when I lay awake at night,
and hear him breathing next to me,
I look into the darkness,
remembering the hunger.
ADAM'S MEMORY
When I saw her walking towards me with that smile,
she took another bite then offered me what she had eaten,
her long hair golden in the setting sun,
her eyes looking into mine,
our fingers touching when I took
what she was holding out to me,
and when I closed my eyes,
not sure if I should go where she was taking me,
my toes clutching at the earth,
my knees weakening, I could not speak,
and when I opened up my eyes
knowing we would never be the same
and looked in back of her at the tree
standing in the distance,
the tall grass bending in the breeze,
the wind getting stronger,
the sky getting darker,
I took a bite and then another and another
and looked into her eyes,
our lips wet with the sweetness we were eating
and swallowed what I knew was coming
but didn’t care as long as we could share
these paths we made and the garden
we were growing.
Who knew that day would be the end of innocence,
that we would work and know despair,
that our children would fight,
that we would hold each other
warm and weary in the night,
our bones no longer strong,
our hair no longer light?
And even now, when I wake at dawn
and watch her sleeping,
the sun just above the trees,
I still can see her holding out her hand,
and how we laughed as we ate,
standing in our nakedness,
the taste a dim memory,
the tree no longer standing.
Was it hunger for the fruit that made me reach
and pluck from the forbidden tree that Autumn day,
that made me turn and smell its fragrance,
see it shining in that slant of light,
walk, then run through weeds above my knees,
shove aside the bending goldenrods
with my bare arms,
ignore the humming bees,
my eyes staring straight ahead
at what I wanted dangling on the lowest branch?
Why did I walk past other trees just as ripe
on paths where I had walked before,
where vines were filled with purple grapes
and berries I had gathered many times with my dear friend?
So why on that late afternoon
standing there alone, knowing I should turn away
as I had so many times before,
why now, listen to a voice whispering,
not sure where it was coming from
or if it was my voice, I didn’t know,
I only knew my heart was beating faster,
my lungs filling up and felt a tremble
that made me run where I had never gone before
and there I was, my fingers grasping
what I knew I shouldn’t touch
and when I closed my eyes and took a bite,
juice running down my chin,
how could I know the hunger I had followed
and the taste my tongue now knew
would ache in me and in my children?
How could I know that summers
would never be the same,
that fruit would never be as sweet again,
that sorrow and bitterness would come
like dark clouds and take away the sun?
Nothing could have stopped my wanting
what was growing where there was no path,
and even now, when I lay awake at night,
and hear him breathing next to me,
I look into the darkness,
remembering the hunger.
ADAM'S MEMORY
When I saw her walking towards me with that smile,
she took another bite then offered me what she had eaten,
her long hair golden in the setting sun,
her eyes looking into mine,
our fingers touching when I took
what she was holding out to me,
and when I closed my eyes,
not sure if I should go where she was taking me,
my toes clutching at the earth,
my knees weakening, I could not speak,
and when I opened up my eyes
knowing we would never be the same
and looked in back of her at the tree
standing in the distance,
the tall grass bending in the breeze,
the wind getting stronger,
the sky getting darker,
I took a bite and then another and another
and looked into her eyes,
our lips wet with the sweetness we were eating
and swallowed what I knew was coming
but didn’t care as long as we could share
these paths we made and the garden
we were growing.
Who knew that day would be the end of innocence,
that we would work and know despair,
that our children would fight,
that we would hold each other
warm and weary in the night,
our bones no longer strong,
our hair no longer light?
And even now, when I wake at dawn
and watch her sleeping,
the sun just above the trees,
I still can see her holding out her hand,
and how we laughed as we ate,
standing in our nakedness,
the taste a dim memory,
the tree no longer standing.
