photo: cathryn cofellby Cathryn Cofell
Eden, in Genesis, is a garden.
Fred, in Norwegian, is peace.
I, in Edenfred, am stymied,
the reflux of first sin and false men:
. . . . . . .How Eve loved the apple more than Adam.
. . . . . . .Adam loved Eve more than God.
. . . . . . .God loved to lay traps in his trees.
. . . . . . .Treed is how I felt by loving Fred.
. . . . . . .Fred loved to cheat on his girl (but she wasn’t me).
. . . . . . .Me? I loved all the wrong men, those
. . . . . . .snakes loved to tempt and I bit every time.
. . . . . . .In time I grew to love poison,
. . . . . . .but it was venom to bible verse and love.
A garden should be a well-cultivated place,
peace should be a freedom from disquieting thoughts,
Edenfred is built for both,
but I am demolished:
. . . . . . .a belief in the dogma of Fred more than Eden,
. . . . . . .that both quit me before I quit believing in them.
. . . . . . .I like to believe I found a safe love or
. . . . . . .that love believes it safely found me.
. . . . . . .Safe? Don’t believe it. I am Newton:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .bonked on this head full of sin,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .a discovery of the sins of gravity,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .that wrongs can’t help but roll downhill
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .to this place I now pace seeking redemption,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .seeking penance for resurrecting Eden and Fred
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .but craving apples, big green apples: juicy, tart.
~ first appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal
