Naked Understanding | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Naked Understanding | Previous Challenge Entry
By Linda Goergen
01/12/15
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One day, as I stared at it,
as I had done countless times before,
it looking so appealing,
so delectable,
so innocent,
it almost seemed
the tree’s fingers tightened their hold,
protecting it,
from the breeze and from me.
A strange feeling ran through my body,
a feeling I did not like,
and I turned away.

You would think that would warn me,
frighten me,
deter me,
but I only found it oddly contemplative,
out of all the fruits
in this garden
I was given free access to,
why I was drawn
again and again
to gaze upon that one—
to dwell upon it, to seek it out.

I keep wondering if my mate
was feeling any of this same longing,
but I dared not ask him.
Besides, I was doing no harm just looking.

Still, I knew I should avoid it,
push all thought of it from my mind
but instead,
I pondered on it all the more.
When I knew I should turn away,
I would allow the beauty
of its skin and its fragrance
to hold me in place
and I began to resent
being kept from it.

It began to haunt my dreams at night,
and consume my days,
as I would watch it glisten in the sun.
I began to desire to touch it.
Yes, just touch it.
What harm could come from just touching it?

And so the day came, I did;
my mind filled with nothing but the thought
of grasping it.
I pulled and tugged it toward me,
but it protested,
clinging hard to the branch,
seeming to fight its destiny,
as if knowing my touch
defiled its innocence.

Blinded
by my own determination,
I yanked the fruit with all my strength,
only realizing
it now rested in my hands—
as I heard the voice,
laughing,
soothing,
encouraging me,
telling me what my mind
was already whispering.
Touching the fruit
was not going to be enough.
I needed to taste it.

For a fleeting moment,
I remembered God’s command
and almost threw the fruit from me,
almost—
but it looked so luscious,
and the serpent’s assurances
made more and more sense
as I eyed the fruit,
drawing it ever closer—

Oh, how I craved it,
how its secrets enticed me,
and before I realized it
I had not just tasted
the fruit,
I was savoring it,
offering it to Adam,
encouraging him to eat.

And when he did—
I stood shivering in
the naked understanding
of my lust.

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