Original Sin

Expelled from Eden, we have found a world
where good and evil will compete, the fruit
of Eve's trespass: too human to withstand
the spell of glossy beauty, the sweet smell
of lush, ripe apples and the haunting lure
of luxury she sank her eager teeth
into the depth of man's true being, strong,
sharp, white and brilliant - and then understood
how she could get her lover to partake
of that same guilty thrill, forbidden, wrong
but all the more alluring. Like a child
he fell for her, just like she knew he would
now that she'd learnt what life was all about –
and neither saw at first the bitter cost
as in the barter innocence got lost
and, man and woman of the world, they made
their way across life's desert where they found
their knowledge, dearly bought, would only serve
to further private ends by clever means,
intelligently brutal, always out
for power, overriding love and doubt.