That Night In Eden

Though God,
with mind stroke
and wave of hand,
created the universe,
never ending,
forever growing,
its only parameters
defined by His own divine fingertips;

had created pristine oceans flowing,
towering mountains
that stretched to the heavens,
searching for home;

had created emerald plains
that seemed to roll into infinity,
and distant planets that would become stars,
celestial sparkles in earth’s night sky;

and created wild creatures
of every sort imagined
in His own sweet dreams;

it was not enough!

There remained a void,
something missed,
something needed to satiate
His complete love.

Then,
on one bright and sunny day,
His eyes transfixed on magnificence,
and a smile that
stretched across His whole universe,
God breathed life into the dust
of a special plot of Earthen soil
He would called Eden.

And in a moment,
there was man,
Adam,
a new wild creature,
with intellect,
a heart,
a soul,
a miracle offspring
made in the image and likeness
of the divine creator Himself.

But as God looked lovingly upon Adam
as he discovered Eden,
and watched him,
as with a child’s energy and wonder,
he frolicked in abundant garden,
thrilling
at the sweet, soft, glorious assault
of his senses,
those blessings that God granted
so that man might experience all that is living,

God grinned,
as Adam marveled at the sight of pervasive beauty
nestled in every corner of what seemed an eternity,
feeling the innocent tickle of buttercups
that he brushed across his cheeks,
listening to the errant gusts
of invisible winds
that teased his imagination,
tasting plump berries
that would burst at the seams,
and smelling the lush,
moist, cushion of grass
as he laid to slumber,

God knew that for this mortal man,
like Himself once lonely,
there remained a void,
something missed,
something more needed for him to love.

So,
beneath a crimson and golden sky,
God waved His hand again,
so that Adam might sleep.
And as the dusk surrendered into night,
God performed another miracle.

Taking a single rib from Adam’s side,
an emotion-filled, passionate, God
raised it high into the magical African night,
the blackest ebony firmament,
full of mystery,
wonder,
and surprise.
And when God placed the rib back at Adam’s side,
it was woman,
Eve,
meaning the night before.
Adam was awakened the next dawn
by a new, sweet, fragrance.
With sleepy eyes slowly parting,
he glimpsed the wondrous form nestled beneath him,
her exquisite beauty making his eyes bulge,
and they have bulged ever since.

Adam stared in wonder,
marveling at smooth skin
painted the color of African night,
drinking in Eve’s full lips,
that spoke to him
still closed.
He stroked thick, midnight hair
that tickled like buttercups,
and listened to her gentle breathing,
those soft gusts on invisible winds
that teased his imagination,

all the beauty of Eden,
packaged into the delicate blessing
that lay beside him.

And Adam cried,
having discovered
what he had never known was missing,
having known loneliness,
but not knowing why.

His happy tears slid across his cheeks
and collected beneath his chin,
until they could cling no more
and began to drop upon Eve.

Awakening,
the first thing this world beheld
for this new creation
was a tear-laden Adam,
someone she would instantly love.
By instinct,
she caressed him,
to console,
to mother,
to love.

At the dawn of man,
blackest Eve,
as all of her daughters who would follow,
became the strength that would help man
carry on,
his leaning post,
his heart food,
the only place his seed might flower.

Make no mistake!
To celebrate woman
is indeed a celebration of man’s better half.
His first act was to explore,
to marvel
and wonder.
Hers was to love,
to care
and mother.

With all of his extraordinary strengths,
man possesses great weaknesses.
Thank God for the blessing that is woman,
whose truest strength
is the unceasing capacity for love.

That one night in Eden,
knowing that He hadn’t quite finished,
God improved upon man
by making woman.