The Plan
 

Did the Old One and the Snake
    have some kind of plan?

And Eve, did she guess the part she had to play,
    even before she ate?

Did some foreboding shiver down her spine,
    of all that was to issue

From her and Adam? He must have looked at her,
    and then knew too.

And later, when they shuddered
    at the terror of it all,

The endless suffering, did they sometimes
    remind each other of the taste they shared,

Which was in fact a gift of freedom,
    a flavor easily forgotten.

This was the plan, then: the Old One
    would appear from time to time

And give to whom he chose a task:
    to help the others all remember.

The plan worked better in theory
    than in practice:

As Eve had coveted the first gift,
    so did those who got the second one.

Little good came of it all,
    and much bad.

Many times, producer and director meant
    to close the whole show,

But each time, some young person present
    suddenly remembered everything

And for the sake of only two bright eyes
    they blessed the world again.