Today's poem is by Brooke Sahni

Eve Leaves Eden
       

Because she hasn't been alone since she was born. Because the romance has worn off. Because she has been here for eternity, and yes, things can be too perfect. Here, it is always summer and the fruit trees are always in bloom. Adam has shown a new devotion to her, which makes her want him less. The serpent has started to tell her stories of places with hardened edges, buildings, and balconies, and people with tormented expressions. He tells her tales in whispers over firelight while Adam is cooking dinner. There are places with traffic and men with lean and muscular bodies. In her imagination, Eve begins walking, and as she walks, she comes into herself. There is a man in the city who is waiting for her, his body adorned in tattoos with a tender voice and hands that pin her down to a soft bed. There are women, too, the serpent says. Their cheeks shine red, and they will tease you, too. In the city, there are fruit markets, but more grease, so many things to make a body feel good in the moment, you might, the snake warns, feel really bad later. But Eve, holding onto the snake's every word, wants to feel some anguish while being pinned down to a bed by a man with strong hands. She begins her voyage, away from her home, and it is the last thing the snake said that pulls her forward: in this new world, there are people who call out to god not because they believe, but simply because they feel good. They sing, oh, god, oh, oh.

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Copyright © 2023 Brooke Sahni All rights reserved
from Between Paradise & Earth: Eve Poems — editors: Nomi Stone & Luke Hankins
Orison Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission