FIGS

Italians know
how to call a fig
a fig: fica.
Mandolin-shaped fruit,
feminine as seeds,
amber or green
and bearing large leaves
to clothe our nakedness.

 

I believe it was
not an apple but a fig
Lucifer gave Eve,
knowing she would find
a fellow feeling
in this female fruit

 

and knowing also
that Adam would
lose himself
in the fig’s fertile heart
whatever the price—

 

. . .

 

God’s wrath, expulsion,
angry angels
pointing with swords
to a world of woe.

 

One bite into
a ripe fig
is worth worlds
and worlds and worlds
beyond the green
of Eden.