“The Garden of Eden” by Shan Jiang
Played and Constrained
After the set-up,
the first guilt trip,
chafing fig leaves,
Eve’s cheeks blushed
at Adam’s first purposeful rising;
joins in with paw and spawn.
Joys yelled to Heaven
in union’s orgasmic dawn.
Original abode,
a peaceable kingdom
climate-controlled;
dwarved under mighty boughs,
no concept of outside,
above, or below.
After being given God’s boot,
they barefooted blindly after Crow.
Generations multiplied and spread,
foraged and starved, learned to farm
under dinged learning curve,
certification always out of reach.
Perceived as under godgrudge,
never conceived of it as being set up
but as their own willful sacrilege and simple weakness.
Verdict: a subconscious wound that could not heal up.
Generations of grounded limping along,
shoes too tight, burden too heavy;
eyes for eyes, confessions of evil
by the conned innocent --
until a day of fearful, fearless accounting came,
where balance of blame was reconciled, redrawn.
By amalgam’s misspliced circuits, blameless, yet cruel
its regulating governor we cannot move beyond.
My poem came out a little of both of what Laura asked.
Laura is today’s host for dVerse’ Meeting the Bar. Laura asks us to write a poem in the A L’Arora form with the following guidelines:
Poetry Subject: Lamarca’s A L’Arora derives from “Aurora” – Italian for “dawn”:.
• Write about the dawn – literally, metaphorically, objectively, personally or however it strikes you
• OR
• Write of dawn as a verb (dawns/dawning), a slow or sudden realization

Very interesting take Li
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Thanks, Sadje. This is one where the muse led. I’m happy in how it turned out.
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You’re welcome
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It started as a heavenly peaceful place and ended up with a final reckoning:
until a day of fearful, fearless accounting came,
where balance of blame was reconciled, redrawn.
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Thank you for your comment, Grace.
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I love how your A L’Arora poem crescendoed, Lisa, starting with two short lines and ending in longer lines with generations, and how you hinted in the lines: Joys yelled to Heaven / in union’s orgasmic dawn’. Human history in a poetic nutshell.
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:) Thanks for the lovely feedback, Kim.
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My pleasure, Lisa.
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from Genesis to Revelations – so much in your Dawn and dawning realizations! Cheeky innuendo too that made me smile
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:) Thank you for every word. Glad to make you smile.
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Kim is right–crescendo is the word that came to mind for me too. The tempo of this is just right. Too many have not yet seen the light…(K)
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Thanks much, Kerfe.
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I love how this poem turned out, Li. It’s a pleasure to read it. I especially loved the closing lines. :)
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Kitty, thank you very much.
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Nicely done, Lisa. This is thought provoking.
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Robbie, thank you. I was hoping it would be.
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You succeeded.
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A very inyeredting poem, but, bravo to that first verse. i really luv it.
Thanks for dropping by to read mine
much♡love
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Gillena, thank you. Glad you liked the first verse. You’re welcome on my dropping by.
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“never conceived of it as being set up
but as their own willful sacrilege and simple weakness.
Verdict: a subconscious wound that could not heal up.”
THis is powerful stuff Lisa and i suspect that – for all your semblance of “standing off” -you yourself feel the wound not yet healed… a very uncomfortable wound. Gosh what we carry in our subconscious! Even the poor old serpent had a raw deal… and as for the fig leaf…!
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Someone, thank you for your astute (and humorous) comment. Please let me know who made the comment.
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Yes, seems like we cannot get beyond it. This has so many evocative experiences going on, origin story, sexuality, alchemy amazing.
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Paul, I appreciate you taking the time with it. Thank you.
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Well played, Li! It’s clever, cheeky and not constrained! Love it. ❤️
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Punam, thanks!
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You are welcome.
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