In the Beginning

In the beginning God was growing tired
of everything and nothing, all at once.
Omnipotent, he nonetheless desired
to hear more than an echo in response
to a profound pronouncement on existence
or lack thereof – no matter how precise
or imprecise his language, in this instance,
and certainly not asking for advice,
God ultimately chose a course of action
that leads us, reader, to the present day.
The universe, no longer an abstraction,
and physics, not philosophy, holds sway,
though priests will still remind us from the dais:
It all began when God first ended chaos.

It all began when God first ended chaos.
He banished it, in truth, to nether regions.
The hosts maintained the order in their legions,
Beelzebub and Satan, Asmodeus,
have not yet fallen -- time yet, to betray us.
No doomsday cults and no occult religions.
No doves, known as the holiest of pigeons,
Not even death, not born yet to decay us.
No – none of these were there, but there was light.
God thought about it, and because he could
created evening followed by a night,
and then announced the combination good,
and it was evening, it was morning, bright.
Creation underway, the angels brood.

Creation underway, the angels brood,
as God makes land to stand on, and some plants,
and Satan feeling, well, misunderstood,
or having grown too tired of the chants,
required as they were within the hosts,
expresses discontent, and rather public.
He’s overheard by some in pithy boasts,
but Heaven, as you know, not a republic…
Should God have intervened right then and there?
The universe might take a different path.
But as it were, he didn’t seem to care.
No signs as yet of Heaven’s holy wrath.
Another night and day now stand complete,
as Satan thinks of voting with his feet.

As Satan thinks of voting with his feet,
God hangs the sun and moon up in the sky.
No outward sign of having gone awry,
our genesis, though still far from complete,
keeps rolling to its newly minted beat,
still lacking, though, in things that multiply.
The angels sing hosannahs way up high,
but there is not as yet a beast to bleat
in harmony with them. The wind does wail.
The rain sates dusty plains, the oceans roar,
but there are none to hear the gusty gale,
or having heard a song, to ask for more.
Cacophony of sound to no avail.
No listener to listen or adore.

No listener to listen or adore.
The thought occurs to God. It comes unbidden.
He’s satisfied with what had come before.
Could he have done it faster? Well, he didn’t,
but now decides to conjure up some whales,
and shellfish too, and other bottom feeders,
and fish of every kind shine in their scales,
and flocks of every feather follow leaders.
Did birds believe they’re angels on the wind?
Did krakens think the deep their sole dominion?
Who knows what it was like before man sinned?
Philosophers may render an opinion,
but even now, who knows the minds of raptors?
The Genesis was sparse in early chapters.

The Genesis was sparse in early chapters.
Time for the tale to render us some meat.
Put on the earth on Friday, with their captors,
all manner beast that suckles from the teat,
along with every kind of creepy crawly,
and chief among them Satan as a snake.
Ostensibly still virtuous and holy,
but you and I both know what is at stake.
Did God do it on purpose, choosing Satan?
What other option is there, God is good.
He wanted us to fall, but then to straighten.
Be good, but only once we’ve understood.
As for the snake, it surely knows its part.
A phallic symbol for a hungry heart.

A phallic symbol for a hungry heart.
Eve, at this point, does not yet know of Adam.
Well, biblically, that is – she stares right at him –
no fig leaf to obscure his better part --
those haven’t been invented, prior art –
she sees it not – the fact is, she can’t fathom,
this ancient lady – can I call her madam –
just what is Adam’s purpose, at the start.
Come Satan to the rescue – finds his calling -
and teaches Eve the meaning of the tree.
How sinuous his motion, how inspired,
If crawl you must, you best be good at crawling,
and Eve, having been taught, thinks that’s she’s free.
And God declared the Sabbath, and retired.