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Just Another Jim

Poetry



Past Paradise

Poem Posted October 13, 2006 by James E. Nelson

Out here in the country, several blocks past modern civilization, we have a veritable menagerie. There are rabbits, opossums, squirrels, mice . . . oh yeah, and even moles and bats.

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PAST PARADISE

In Genesis the serpent takes the fall
along with Eve and Adam, all
returning to the dust while clutching
their peculiar curses.

A New York version of the tale might start
with rats and end with banishment
outside the city's vibrant heart
toward a dreary life of tears in Hoboken.

In my paradise the evil multiplies.
At war with rodents, I poison moles
and banish anything that flies
into the attic in order to stay warm.

Evil used to slither forward to the curse
but everything accelerates, and now
it scurries underneath, or high above (and worse)
it dips and darts into our midnight ravings

as endless fear and loathing.