יש and roses and thunder.
את jasmine and metamorphosis.
Who is this Eve?
What garden does she haunt?
Where is the lethal serpent
everyone speaks of?
What snap of bite into apple
cracks through the ruby skin,
firm to bursting?
What crisp white flesh is this?
What sweetness
that drips down her chin?
What is this churning of the earth
beneath her dusty feet?
What florid, black richness
creeps between her toes,
beckons her shins,
calves, knees, hips?
Who placed these angels—
meant to terrify—
upon the lintel,
swords aflame and spinning?
Whose hand opens the gate
and locks it fast again?
Who pierced this dome of night?
What bloodsister’s infinity of pinpricks
upon her indigo palm
released the lily streamers to unfurl;
to dangle with
the lusciousness of temptation?
***
With deep thanks to Kim Rosen for her shamanic poetic midwifery.
***
Photo: bioluminescent mushrooms by budak
