O God forgive my former heresy
In thinking man correct to reap The Tree.
Yet, if one is to fathom history,
One must admit the ambiguity:
For till one knows what good and evil mean
How can one differentiate between?
But now I see the myth’s intended trend:
It’s monotheistic from start to end –
Since Eve and Adam were created free
And, therefore, knew what good and evil be.
The "knowledge" hidden in the grave decree
Transcends that God-imposed morality
Without which mortals cannot long prevail,
Unleashing on themselves the hounds of hell.
I likewise now accept the other point
That urban culture’s badly out of joint;
That we from nature never should have fled
To live in Godless cities foul and dead.
In view of Mammon’s grip, and live TV,
I know how limited is poetry;
But Lord imbue me with the sacred word,
So I may help persuade those undeterred
By man’s destruction of this precious Earth
And thus contribute to her pledged rebirth.
Of course, with fertile land so overstrained
And population increase uncontained,
Instead of saving each unsettled spot
Perhaps we all should have a garden plot.
By this I mean the cottage type of old,
With trees and flowers; herbs and greens untold,
Where creatures vital to the Earth’s good health
Would teach our hearts the truth regarding wealth.
Jerusalem
19 December 1993