Eve's Kitchen

A Magpie Tale

Between Heaven and Hell, 1989 by Jacek Yerka

What's for supper?
Bread, again,
seasoned with our toil
among the thorns
and creeping things
and storms.

Oh, yes, I miss it, too,
the vines and branches
hanging low
with just-ripe fruit
for just us two,
a feast for the plucking,
juice dripping
down our skin.

But recall:
until that one
Forbidden flavor
taught us other-
wise,
we knew not
how sweet it was,
our Paradise;

without that bite
we would still be
unsalted dough,
no need to rise
to any occasion,
ever baking
in the sun,
but never done.