Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Female



It was the other way round:
God waved his slow wand
And the creature became a woman,
Imperceptively, retaining its body,
Nose, brow, lips, eyes,
And the face that was like a flower
On the neck’s stem. The man turned to her,
Crazy with the crushed smell
Of her hair; and her eyes warned him
To keep off. And she spoke to him with the voice
Of his own conscience, and rippled there
In the shade. So he put his hands
To his face, while her forked laughter
Played on him, and his leaves fell
Silently round him, and he hung there
On himself, waiting for the God to see.


-- R. S. Thomas (1913-2000),  Anglican priest and Welsh poet, from Collected Poems, 1945-1990


Relevant scripture: Genesis 2:4b-24

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