Before the Big Bang, we were two
entangled intelligences, primeval
lovers cruising the astral plane,
killing eons until our first estate.
Sure, it got weird when the Gods
took us in, organized us into spirits,
kind of made us brother and sister.
But we trusted in the plan enough
to cut our initials into the bark
of some preexisting aspen. The leap
into the veiled world of the next estate
was easy, like hopping from one step
to the next, knowing we would find
each other there, our fates still fitting
together like oiled links on the Gods’
big bicycle chain. We didn’t know,
as we do now, how sad a plan
of happiness could be, even for us,
who live so happily. What did Eve say
after the Fall? I can never remember.
But what she meant was this: evil
was neither the only nor the worst
nor the most common byproduct
of the fruit. So much experience
existed between good and evil
that she left it unspoken: and
as dirty trick, as booby trap,
as banana peel on the sidewalk
of life. So, thank the Gods for what
she said next: the joy of our redemption,
and the eternal life. If nothing else,
you and me, we try. This darkling plain
is no carefree celestial thoroughfare.
But here we are, still entangled,
crawling together to our third estate.

 

Scott Hales

 

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