SOULMATES
by
Nina Kallen
The first, tangy taste of the apple
I didn’t expect to like it.
I didn’t expect you to be such a pushover,
A whiner, a hider
Although Lilith tried to warn me.
I didn’t expect to like Lilith.
The snake liked her.
I didn’t expect to like the snake.
The snake said it wasn’t fair he only got to see her
Every other weekend
And on holidays that hadn’t been invented yet.
I wished he would spend more time with her
And give you and me more time
Alone in paradise.
But Lilith was off trying to find herself in the world
While I was trying to find myself in you.
I worried that I got your rib
But not your heart.
You swore that Lilith wasn’t made out of that,
Wasn’t made out of you at all,
Was just mud as far as you were concerned.
I couldn’t see inside you anymore.
I wanted to know,
To really know.
And the snake was bored
And was always causing trouble
--that was just his way--
And the apple was there
And I wanted to know.
I thought my head had split open
Like your rib cage,
Except instead of a piece of me being ripped out
The universe was being shoved in.
A lot of it faded after that brief flash.
But for a moment I saw it all.
Planets,
This planet,
Oceans,
The crawling things on the beaches,
Creatures faded,
And not yet born,
Clay tinted red,
And in the awful mix,
You, and Lilith.
I saw
You never really liked her,
You sniveling thing.
I half hoped you wouldn’t be tempted,
And I would bring the apple to her
And she would show me more --
The whole world she had traveled.
The snake said it’s surprising how I settled.
I miss him.
But he got what he wanted.
He’s off with Lilith now.
And there’s you and me in our
McMansion as big as a world,
And the kids are always killing each other,
And you toil and I labor.
It’s unexpected that I like it.
Most days.
Creation.
You.
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