This is how we fought. Forearm meeting
wrist with clench and heat. If not fingers
scratching my neck, they were pulling my hair;
if not biting my toes, his teeth gnawed my nipples.

What would Eve have done? Did she tell
God that Adam kept her from the sweet apple?

That he sent the snake? Even after the children—
he always seeking, she always suffering—

who decided this, Adam or his Lord?
Eve lost her son, too. Did Adam comfort her

or leave to put new flax blossoms in their garden?
The garden gate swings both ways.

Jackie Langetieg has published poems in literary magazines such Rosebud, Verse Wisconsin, Blue Heron Review. She’s won awards, such as WWA’s Jade Ring contest, Bards Chair, and Wisconsin Academy Poem of the Year. She is a regular contributor to the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar. She has written five books of poems, most recently, Letter to My Daughter and a memoir, Filling the Cracks with Gold.