et conlocavit ante paradisum voluptatis
cherubin et flammeum gladium. . . "
--Genesis 3:24
For all my sisters and brothers.
"Adam" is thrown out
of the Garden,
there is no need,
it seems,
to mention Eve.
Who, or what,
is the "flaming sword?"
Is it not ourselves
and what we have built?
Is it not the things
that humans created
and Adam named?
Is it not Adam himself,
the only one the ancients found
worth mentioning,
with all his pomp
and privilege,
that closed the gates
of Paradise?
Yes, it is only ourselves,
and what we have created,
that bar us
from the Garden.
Stand down Angel,
and put by
thy sword,
for we,
female and male,
have found the key,
together,
and would enter.
