Out

The Lord God, the Almighty, simply said,
“Do not eat any fruit from this tree. It
May taste delicious, but its aftertaste
Will make you realize that you ate in haste,
And you will wish that you had never bit
Into its luscious poison. Use your head.”
When Eve and Adam gamboled naked in
Their garden, naming dachshund, sloth, gazelle,
They never dreamed of jungles or of hell,
And neither gave much thought to what was sin.
But when Eve nibbled the forbidden fruit
Urged on her by a too smooth-talking snake,
She felt a cataclysmic stomachache
And rued departing Eden in the nude.

—Mary-Patrice Woehling