{"id":1909,"date":"2022-07-06T11:36:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T18:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/?p=1909"},"modified":"2022-07-06T11:36:30","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T18:36:30","slug":"out-on-a-limb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/2022\/07\/06\/out-on-a-limb\/","title":{"rendered":"Out On a Limb"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

Out On a Limb<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long while
\nsince I worshipped
\nthat black,
\nleather-bound text
\nassiduously assembled
\nby King James and his
\nhand-picked Hampton Court
\ncrew of mordant men
\n(no ladies were invited.)<\/p>\n

But I can still admire
\nthe subversive bits
\nthat make me smile
\nat their impish implications,
\nto wit:<\/p>\n

Right from the
\ngit-go
\nwe\u2019re told that
\nthe fruit of a
\nparticular tree
\nwill bring death,
\nthough its fruit
\nis quite tasty.<\/p>\n

It drops my jaw
\nto read, again,
\nthat the maleficent
\njuicy fruit
\nis none other than
\njudging between
\ngood and evil.<\/p>\n

Yet, my life has been built
\nfrom judgment:<\/p>\n

This, not that,
\nshould and shouldn\u2019t,
\ngood, better, best,
\nwinners take all,
\nI wish I was,
\nI wish I wasn\u2019t . . .<\/p>\n

Compare, compare, compare.
\nAnd always
\ncoming up short.<\/p>\n

There was another tree.<\/p>\n

I want to read,
\nnay, write,
\nthe story of
\nwhat might be,
\nwhat might have been,<\/p>\n

had we eaten from
\nthe Tree of Life.<\/p>\n

Or, translating from the
\noriginal angelic tongues,<\/p>\n

The Tree of Love.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Faye Cornish; UnSplash)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Out On a Limb It\u2019s been a long while since I worshipped that black, leather-bound text assiduously assembled by King James and his hand-picked Hampton Court crew of mordant men (no ladies were invited.) But I can still admire the subversive bits that make me smile at their impish implications, to wit: Right from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t