Helena Nelson
The Fall (GM)
The tree was genetically modified.
The apple was full of dioxins.
The leaves were too green;
any fool could have seen
they were vibrant with millions of toxins
but a friend we had then (we both called him ‘Snake’)
announced he’d go up there and get it.
I said to my spouse,
‘There’s pears in the house.’
Still, Adam ignored me and ate it.
He swallowed a bite with a smirk of delight,
then laughed till he cried (he was manic).
‘You’ll love it my dear,’
he cried. ‘I’m sincere.
And look - here’s some seed that’s organic.’
What could I say? It wasn’t my day
for making a stand on aesthetics
but it led to sheer babel
from wee Cain and Abel -
I blame the whole thing on genetics.
Helena Nelson pretends by day to be a teacher in a further-education college. At night she writes poetry. Her pamphlet of poems about the sad-funny love story of Mr and Mrs Philpott is available from Kettillonia (http://www.sol.co.uk/k/kettillonia).
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