A Place of Trees

 

There had to be a woman before Eve,

a goddess before the god.

She could have taught Eve a thing or two.

First of all, apples belonged to her (although

some say it was a fig)

and there was no sin in knowing.

She never would have made Eve lie
under Adam or pretended that woman was
created from a man’s rib (what, no blood?)

In fact, in this story, Eve gives birth to Adam
because she is the Mother of all Living

Oh well, pick the story you like better.
But this Eve has a new face

and Paradise means
a place of trees.


by Jennifer Boire, from In Our Mother’s Garden: Or A Place of trees.  Chapbook Published by Over the Moon Press, Montreal, 2003. Shared with permission of the author.