God Judging Adam, William Blake, 1794

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AT PANDEMONIUM, IRAQ

A solemn council forthwith to be held
At Pandemonium, the high capital
Of Satan and his peers.
John Milton, Paradise Lost

Then the Lord God said,
"Behold, the man has become like one of us,
knowing good and evil…"
Genesis 3:22


Poor lonely bejeweled Serpent, brutal with wisdom,
Spiraled erect in gleaming gold,
I named you for my Leader’s sake.
Sweet offspring we, sad enameled brother of the soil.
Dumb and naked came I into His teeming garden, east in Eden,
Gifted with naught save blind fealty.
Cultivate My garden, said the Leader, Keep it well.
And then He made you, craftiest of all beasts,
To pit against simple, empty me.
Oh cruel garden, east in Eden!
So hungry was I to know the why and how,
To be diligent, a loving steward for my strolling Leader.
So like Him I yearned to be, so too I ate.
But cursed was I, and now curse I those days.
Such a blame for merely wanting knowledge.


JAMES RYAN
February 2005