THE FALL OF MAN AND ITS EFFECT ON RELATIONSHIPS
John Grey
I’m watching the fall of man closely.
I wonder why we don’t just go all the way,
develop claws and fangs, really become beasts.
We’re sedate and calm and well-mannered
despite the treachery of our birthright.
You can’t tell that we disobeyed orders
right from the beginning when we open
the door for you or arrive grinning and
sweet with chocolates and flowers.
When I hear wolves howl at night from deep
in the forest, I ask myself, if I’m a descendent
of Cain, why aren’t I howling from in here?
Why isn’t it the wolves who feel the
hair rising on the back of the head,
who shudder and pale at the piercing sound?
And why, when the women abandon me do I
feel betrayed when surely I must be deceitful and
dangerous and undeserving of that
caring and affection in the first place?
Many’s the time, I’ve sat here alone,
pondered all the duplicity and
selfishness and cruelty of man
through the ages and felt it lead
eventually to me. Still, I offer myself
to the next one in my life to give
content and shape to the murders, to the lies.
We walk hand and hand through the park
in moonlight as if that’s the only journey.
