mad adam east of eden
makes up his own rules
to a game he does not play.
he will make her the burnished
sandalwood
tree of life and
she will take the apple
she will take the fruit
the snake decides
swallow the body the blood
of the etz chayim the
mates for life
back alley blackwater lilith.
a hot black tar
tangerine jumpsuit and
smiles–no
grins–no
sneers at
the pavement melting between her teeth.
the concrete forest
the polluted cosmopolitan politico
cold, calculated,
chaotic greens and greys
reflected in her eight-ball eyes.
her mother was a forest fire:
ardent, searing.
her father a gutter song
of half-spent cigarettes and
sweltering workday’s grime
waiting to be burned
lilith:
cuts her teeth on a road just laid down
hot black tar between molars
grinding his pavement punches down through the
atmospheric smog splinter infested sidewalk rollerblading from
his lips sits a cigarette rolled from the very jet black she walks on
and she: like her mother
will not submit.
mad adam makes up his own rules
to a game he does not play.
in kind:
she will tear herself out of him
stop the traffic in his heartbeat
cause a collision
and slip away
lilith will play his game
play him like the devil’s fiddle
twirl him around her little finger
like a snake around an apple tree
lilith: coffee-candied lips and a
sweet as saffron smile
she will not play she will win
bring eden to its winter
she will not merely survive his game
lilith: the screech-owl
the night-hag
the monster
the black tarred and feathered abomination
she will not merely survive his game
she will tear it to pieces and kill it with her beak
she is everything he cannot be and more
she: like he mother
will not submit.
she will burn every inch of eden until he knows
until they know
she will not be a pawn to push towards a sea of grey
she will leave the apple trees to rot
and burn the bridges she comes to
whatever she may be:
night hag,
night monster,
night witch
will be better than a slave.
Rebecca Flieder is a Creative Writing major from New Hampshire whose works often focus on love and nature as they relate to the modern world. When not writing, she loves to wander the woods behind her home and pretend she’s not the one that ate all the chocolate chip cookies.