My mind is full of Eve, rising up in the arms
of Satan, fallen angel of Paradise Lost, still
only in a dream, as the event has not yet
happened. The dream fruit was pressed
to her lips, and then up they went, his wings
powerful and calm. He showed her the whole
expanse of Eden below, and how high she
might go, like a god herself. She was glad
to wake from this dream, to see the face
of Adam. He comforted her, saying now
she had dreamed it, she would not do it in life.
The story goes on; now we all know better.
In the dream, in the words of the poem,
it’s hard to say whether she took a bite.
The fruit is pressed to her lips, and we know
how in dreams eating and drinking are unlikely,
taste is implied, not accomplished—but flying!
Yes! Somehow we can fly in dreams—
though nowhere else in our own bodies!
True, she was wrapped in his, so when the time
comes, won’t she trust him, the one who took
her up? Won’t she want the real touch of teeth
and lips to the fruit of that tree in the dream,
even lovelier in the dream than in the actual
Garden? Won’t she want her tongue to taste?
So, has Satan created desire in Eve, who felt
only gratitude before, satisfaction, obedience?
But when he whispered the dream into her ear,
he was calling upon his own experience.
He was the one who wanted to be godlike.
She may want only to be fully human, and awake.
— Babs
of Satan, fallen angel of Paradise Lost, still
only in a dream, as the event has not yet
happened. The dream fruit was pressed
to her lips, and then up they went, his wings
powerful and calm. He showed her the whole
expanse of Eden below, and how high she
might go, like a god herself. She was glad
to wake from this dream, to see the face
of Adam. He comforted her, saying now
she had dreamed it, she would not do it in life.
The story goes on; now we all know better.
In the dream, in the words of the poem,
it’s hard to say whether she took a bite.
The fruit is pressed to her lips, and we know
how in dreams eating and drinking are unlikely,
taste is implied, not accomplished—but flying!
Yes! Somehow we can fly in dreams—
though nowhere else in our own bodies!
True, she was wrapped in his, so when the time
comes, won’t she trust him, the one who took
her up? Won’t she want the real touch of teeth
and lips to the fruit of that tree in the dream,
even lovelier in the dream than in the actual
Garden? Won’t she want her tongue to taste?
So, has Satan created desire in Eve, who felt
only gratitude before, satisfaction, obedience?
But when he whispered the dream into her ear,
he was calling upon his own experience.
He was the one who wanted to be godlike.
She may want only to be fully human, and awake.
— Babs
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