Eve's Daughter

Eve's Daughter
by: Lori Waggoner
I.
Scarlet hues caught and held my gaze -
Heavy with nectar,
Ripened to perfection,
Enticingly within reach.
Previously-ignored hunger heightened,
Demanding satiety.
Soft and warm in my palm,
Its sweet aroma ascended,
Forcing my palate alive with anticipation.

"Beware nature's deception," conscience warned.
"That which entices the eye,
Poisons the blood."
Sense dominated reason and bid me taste.
Ah, perpetual bliss!
Treachery cannot be so sweetly disguised!
Each bite intoxicated more than the first,
As a pervasive contentment settled me
Heavily in a hypnotic reverie.

II.
O wretched, writhing, endless agony!
Can beauty breed death?
Or satisfaction birth destruction?
The soul's windows thrown open
Yet strangely blind,
Shrouded in darkness.
Heaving and pain hollow my insides,
While memories of the honeyed nectar
Linger...haunt...drive.

Devoid of strength, I crawl to the vine
Which stands naked
Mocking me in its barrenness.
Craving persists...intensifies.
In desperation, I seek and devour again
My first misery.
Like a soulless dog returns to its vomit,
Captive to The Forbidden.

O aching, joyless existence!
O lethal deception!
Who shall deliver from this
Body of Death?
I awaken to a dreadful reality:
Terrible in its shining ferocity,
The sword-armed Angel forbids my return.
I chafe under the threat of his burning gaze,
But weakness paralyzes and prevents escape.

III.
Diverted eyes irresistibly drawn back,
This time to an altered vision:
A Man in white,
Flaming eyes and outstretched arms, invites,
"Come to Me and I will give you rest."
"I demand satisfaction, not rest!" I rebel.
"He who eats of Me will never hunger."

An echo from the past stirs within:
"This is My Body, given for you,
Take and eat."
Could this colorless, odorless morsel -
This "Bread of Life" - be aptly named?
I take.  I eat.
The balm of Gilead washes my soul, 
Soothing, filling the void.
As death is swallowed up,
I rise and walk in newness of life.