The New Republic

Years after the garden closed on Adam
a thousand thousand gardens take its place
(hold my hand, I hear the waters rising)
roses, lemons, lilac, hemlock, grape.
A thousand thousand gardens take its place.
Is each an Eden waiting to be lost?
Roses, lemons, lilac, hemlock, grape.
What was God thinking when he made the apple?
Is each an Eden waiting to be lost?
Seeds of knowledge, carelessness, and greed.
What was God thinking when he made the apple?
Did he do it only for the story?
Seeds of knowledge, carelessness, and greed—
they say the ice cap is already melting.
Did he do it only for the story?
Meringues of childhood melted on the tongue.
They say the ice cap is already melting.
The angel still waits with his flaming sword.
Meringues of childhood melted on the tongue,
but innocence alone will never save us.
The angel still waits with his flaming sword:
flowers and vegetables, forests tremble.
Innocence alone will never save us.
How beautiful the world is in the morning.
Flowers and vegetables, forests tremble.
How beautiful the world is in the morning.
Years ago the garden closed on Adam.
Hold my hand, I hear the waters rising.

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