Birth Pangs
For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. -- Romans 8:22
We are not told why Adam sinned,
Only that Adam, named for the red earth,
Took the fruit from Eve
Bringing death into the world,
Undeceived, turning from God.
Turning from God, he fell in hard
Labor, and the world turned
On him, wrathful weeds,
Dry dead soil, but Eve
Ever saved through child-bearing.
Ever saved through child-bearing,
The pain of each child
Tearing free, breaking from the soil
Of her body, the ocean of flesh
In which we are born.
The ocean of flesh in which we are born
Spins in the darkness, the darkness
Of time. the darkness of space,
This tiny world, our mother,
Life writhing on its surface.
Life writhing on its surface,
The flood washed it all away, leaving
A baptized raft of humans, Eve's
Promised writhing flesh,
Torn and bleeding in hope.
Torn and bleeding in hope,
Christ, the second Adam, bears our sins.
God kills us again and again,
Forgives us again and again.
We are not told why Adam sinned.
--Bill Stifler, © 2020