If only Adam had stilled her arm as it lifted
to the branch, brought her hand to his lips,
taken a stick to guide the serpent to another tree.
Or if Eve had listened to birdsong instead,
heard how the river water tumbled soft over
stones. Had lain with her love in the shade
of what was already grown full and fair.
The Pause Before the Fall
Adrienne Pilon (she/her) is a writer, editor, teacher, and booster of small literary magazines. Recent and forthcoming work appears in Minyan Magazine, The Tiger Moth Review, The Linden Review and elsewhere. She lives in North Carolina and sometimes other places with her family.