CASUS NOSTER [XI]

BANISHMENT

We looked up and saw the sky above turned

grey—something neither you nor I had seen

in the Garden.

The booming we heard cracked in our ears

and left us nearly deaf—

the ringing over and over again

until our ears were left dripping with blood—

a redness that you and I had never seen

inside this Garden.

I reached for you next to me in the bush,

but you had already risen

and stepped out into the clearing,

unafraid of what form we would see

Adoshem.

I curled up on the ground, my arms grasping my aching belly,

my hands gripping my back and my knees

pushed up against my breasts—

I was rocking;

I was weeping.

I looked over to you, saw only your feet

standing uneasily upon the grass—

you were silent as I wept.

The thundering continued and you stood

still; what seems like forever passed on,

my eyes had dried

and you kept standing.

I arose

slowly—

my hands were

shaking—

my breath was

heavy.

I pursed one arm up against my breasts

and the other hand over my nakedness—

the wind was cold, as there was no sun

with which to heat the Garden’s thermals.

My skin crawled with each blistering gust.

You stood there, letting the wind entrap your face.

I looked over at you:

your hands were placed gently over

your nakedness, your eyes were firm on the darkened sky—

your mouth made no movements.

I moved my arm from my breasts

and reached over to your hand,

which was much more calm than mine.

You entangled my fingers within yours,

then we both clenched each other’s

tighter

as the sky opened up

and a blinding light came beaming down.

We ran back into the bush

and hid, peering through to the clearing—

still shaking.

Adoshem appeared from the beam—

his face was stern,

but his voice remained unraised.

“Adam, Eve:

Where are you?”

You began to step forward

but I pushed you back with an uneasy hand.

“We are here, Adoshem.”

He looked me over as you emerged from the bush;

His eyes still on me.

“Why were you hiding?”

I could tell that He knew;

He just wanted us to admit

our shame.

“We were hiding because we are naked, my Lord.”

He looked over at you,

now standing next to me.

“How did you know you were naked?”

I looked over at you, covering yourself still—

my hands were doing the same on myself—

and we both looked down until you lifted your head

to Adoshem.

“My Lord . . . ”

“I know what you have done.”

We both fell to our knees

and began to weep bitterly.

Our mouths inhaled the grass

as our breath pushed harshly from our chests;

our fingered curled around the earth

in our last attempt to stay a part

of this Garden.

You rose your eyes back up to Adoshem.

“The Serpent – he was here and he spoke . . . ”

His voice raised and boomed over the Garden;

the leaves shook on the trees and the birds

took to the sky in fright.

“The Serpent is none of you concern!

He has been dealt with—

he is now the lowest of all of the beasts

as I have forced him to crawl on his belly

for all of time.

“But you, my Creations,

have failed me!

I gave you all this Garden

and all of the pleasures that you could take in

while asking only one thing from you—

and you failed me!”

I arose quickly as you stayed on the ground,

weeping;

I ran up to Adoshem

and looked at Him in his deep

entrancing eyes—

He reminded me of the Serpents,

only I feared His more.

“My Lord,

think not Adam responsible for this,

for I tempted him—

I am the one who gave him the Fruit

and I am the one who first fell

to the Serpent’s advances.

“I am the one who fell.”

“You both fell!”

His words burned my face harshly.

“You both disobeyed me,

you both betrayed me,

and you both let your temptations

rule over your reason;

for this, I must banish you

from the Garden.”

You looked up at me next to Adoshem

and I looked back at you

as our eyes watered again.

This place—

our home—

gone from our grasps.

Our bodies would never again feel

the grass below

and our throats would never again be quenched

by the cooling rivers which flow softly

in the Garden.

Adoshem looked over to the gates

and they opened,

showing us the bleakness of life

outside of our sheltering walls.

God’s voice calmed itself again

but remained firm.

“Go.”

So you rose, still sobbing

and came up to me.

We bowed our heads to Adoshem

then began the

slow

grueling

trek

toward the gate.

As we walked side by side

you reached over

and grabbed my hand.

They remained locked in one another

until the gate closed behind us.