I would never have left Eden

by Oonah V Joslin

I would never have left Eden.
It would take a lot more incentive than an apple
or a degree in anthropology to tempt me
out of paradise. At core
everything constitutes a deal.
God wanted to control knowledge.
Adam wanted to control the world.
I never wanted to be the mother of humanity.
Like changing nappies makes you happy
or a Big Mac or the man of your dreams?
Pull the other one. I don’t need
your latest app. to validate my identity.
What idiot listens to snakes anyway?
As long as there are trees and tranquility
I’d be content to walk in the same garden
day after day for all eternity.
Find yourself some other, naive Eve.

* * * * *

Oonah V Joslin is poetry editor at The Linnet’s Wings. She has won prizes for both poetry and micro-fiction. Her book Three Pounds of Cells ISBN: 13: 978-1535486491 is available online from Linnet’s Wings Press and you can see and hear Oonah read in this National Trust video. The first part of her novella A Genie in a Jam is serialised at Bewildering Stories, along with a large body of her work (see Bibliography). You can follow Oonah on Facebook or at Parallel Oonahverse https://oovj.wordpress.com/.