By Their Fruit

So the story
is that
The Creator
planted a
beautiful garden
for his two
adult children,
Adam and Eve,

with gorgeous
flowers and
fruitbearing trees,
including one
with especially
luscious
fruit
the two
were forbidden
to eat.

“If you disobey,”
he said,
“you’ll learn the
difference
between
good and evil,
because
I’ll throw
you out of
the garden
and you will
die.”

“Why?
Because I said so.”

Entire
world religions
have been built
around this
tale,
bulging with
the muscle of
“because I said so.”

It’s mid-morning
on a coffee and
cinnamon roll
Saturday.

I hear a knock
on my door.
I open it to
find a pair
of bright-eyed
young men in
business attire.

They hand me
a tract
on which
is printed
“God Loves You.”

“Also,” one of them
says, smiling,
“we have some
luscious fruit
for you.”

“No,
thank you,”
I say,
“I’ve had
my fill
of
that fruit.”

(Photo by Katherine Hood)