Theology -- Ted Hughes

Guest poem submitted by Aseem Kaul:

(Poem #768) Theology "No, the serpent did not Seduce Eve to the apple. All that's simply Corruption of the facts. Adam ate the apple. Eve ate Adam. The serpent ate Eve. This is the dark intestine. The serpent, meanwhile, Sleeps his meal off in Paradise - Smiling to hear God's querulous calling." -- Ted Hughes

In the spirit of submitting poems about religion. This is one I find
particularly impressive because of the unflinching directness with which
it's written - which is what keeps it from being more than just a momentary
witticism. I specially love the incredible sense of despair that grips me
everytime I read the lines 'This is the dark intestine' - because with that
one line Hughes simply kills the laughter of the previous three (and is it
just my imagination or is there a suggestion of the long geneologies of the
Genesis in them) and suddenly plunges us into a sort of minor key, a note of
unrelieved blackness. Philosophically, it's not that profound a poem, but
what makes it special is that despite this it sort of feels right.

Aseem.