One evening,
just after sunset,
luminous clouds still orange in the western sky,
Adam discovered another tree.
This one, like the other,
hung with ripe, redolent fruit.
This one, unlike the other,
offered itself without shame or hesitation.

But Adam had learned his lesson,
sworn off fruit completely.
Sad, really,
because this was the Tree of Undoing.

Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.