That One Time, In the Garden
Image: “Adam and Eve Expelled From Paradise” by Marc Chagall
You can’t even be certain
you’re not dreaming this poem.
This line, then the next, then,
God yes, these words, then the alarm
tempting from the nightstand:
Open your eyes. Taste the day.
That one
Time in the Garden,
you were pretty sure God
had no right to complain. After
all, He made the snake. He planted
the Tree, and you beneath it,
ears wide for listening, eyes
sealed
Against knowing. The fault
wasn’t yours. If Sin
is picking Evil when you know
how it differs from Good, that’s
the fruit of the bite, and your biting
came first, sweetness
savored
In innocence. You were made
for waking. God yes,
these words are tempting:
Open your eyes. Taste the day.
That one time, in the Garden,
was expulsion God’s wrath
or His alarm?