The Daughters of Eve (poem)

Note: This piece contains references to African literature which might be obscure to the general reader.


 
Woman:
Even a good woman has a thousand wiles
So be careful how you choose your wife
Eve, what happened on that fateful day?
Why did you eat from the Tree of Life
And seduce poor Adam to join in the crime?
Eve, what happened at the beginning of time?
Did you really eat a fruit or was that a metaphor for intimacy?
In the middle of Eden, was there a forbidden tree
Or is that just another earthy metaphor?
And did a snake really talk or was that just Satan?
Whatever the case, that day saw the Fall of Man
Why do women find it so easy to deceive?
I guess it’s because we are all daughters of Eve.

Man:
Hmmm…if you’re the daughter of Eve
Then I guess that makes me the Son of Adam
Which leads me to ask: 'Was Adam a Black or White man?'
My money is on Black because Africa is that cradle of man
And Eve must have been a beautiful Black woman
Because so many of her descendants have those features
So come to me, Daughter of Africa,
Whoever said that the beautiful ones are not yet born
Has obviously never laid eyes on your face
He is ignorant of your features, your texture, your grace
God works in mysterious ways
And I can tell that He made you on the Eighth Day
After a nice long rest on Saturday

There are lessons to be learnt from the Fall of Man
Men and women should get close but not think they’re one
They may eat the same bread but not from the same loaf
As observed in ‘The Prophet’ by Khalil Gibran
I wonder what Eve said the first time she saw Adam
Perhaps: 'O Brave New World that has such creatures in it!'
Meanwhile, Adam was crying: 'My rib! – Have you seen it?’
Those who preach that no difference exists between the genders
Are the same ones who mess up their relationships and then try to fix them
With God’s bits of wood and useless tips from soap operas

Say you’ll marry me, daughter of Eve,
Let’s go forth and populate the Earth
It’s morning yet on Creation Day
The universe is still young, still fresh from the Big Bang
I am Adam and I have been looking for my Eve
I’m yet to find my long-lost rib
But of late I’ve been detecting a sweet presence
And I strongly suspect that it’s the stalking of Eve 


(c) Alex Nderitu