“The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel,” (Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬-‭15‬).

The first rebellion—the first of a gushing flood—

that hushed the lust for fruit with fig leaves fastened

over shame—stank and called for blood. 

And God, the Forsaken, came near on the last

day of Eden, walking through His art—

the corn stalks swaying, the flowers bowing low,

the swallows singing and dogs barking, His heart

etched in sky above and grass below—

this home He built, rich with every song

except the one He cherished most—the voice

of man. He stepped to silence, felt its wrong,

caught the stench of death in mankind’s choice

and offered hope: the tempter’s doom is sealed,

and by a Son of Eve we shall be healed.