The Apple

What if it was Adam who ate the apple

and in retelling, told it slant?

The tale recorded by scribes of men

with etching tools and papyrus

rewriting Eve into a sin.

The temptress who led her mate astray

and cursed us all till kingdom come.

The mother of mothers twisted and twined

into the shrew of literature,

the witch of Salem,

the feminine mystique placed on high

but denied the pen to record it straight.

What if Adam ate the apple?

A rogue deceptor, a muscle man

Who climbed the tree

Who shook the limb

Who took a bite

And smiled it good.