Wednesday, March 11, 2020: National Women's Month: Annette Marie Smith's poem "Of Course They Got The Story Wrong"

Of Course They Got The Story Wrong

Of course they got the story wrong

painted me as tempted by an outside force

when every woman knows

that all temptation

comes from within

and is usually prompted

by curiosity and whim.

Where and when does a piece of fruit become

a metaphor

for everything that has ever been desired

and denied? And who am I to know?

At the beginning, some call it Eden, the place AND the time

and some call me Eve.

Here is the real story

or as close an approximation as you'll get

peering through the mists of myth and time.

I am a shapeshifter

and carry coils in me

of snakes to charm

as well as harm.

Sometimes I wear my snakes as long locks

and then I am called Medusa, among other things.

I am more than one woman

I am all women and I was never taken from rib or side or hide

I was already threading my way through antediluvian trees

before the man came to be.

I am snake and woman both

and am remembered so in humanity's

racial memory as Cihuacōātl, Angitia, and more.

I have worn bell skirts and bare breasts,

gleaming scales and undress

always I am the seductress

with persimmons, blood oranges, and nectar heavy peaches

up my sleeves (when I wear them).

So, about Adam. I met him first when I was going by Lilith

at which time his naivety offended me.

Later I took pity (and take note that pity can be a most

motivating factor) on him and used what simple signs

and means that he would understand to strike out on his own

and not be rooted by intimidation of knowing

the obtaining of which most often results in growing

and swayed him to be ready for such

for there was a spoken agreement (an unwritten law)

that he should remain infantalized

I merely exercised

my nurturing nature in helping him mature.

Some see disobedience in what we did

but I say it was the first real act of bravery

long before the king of Tyre led his rebellion

against the very root of authoritarian tyranny.

I am Eve, mother of all rebellion and keeper of the seeds.

© 2020 Annette Marie Smith

Bio: Annette Marie Smith is a freelance journalist, an author, artist, and poet. She is

the founder and curator of the international feminist project, Facing Feminism. Her

articles have appeared in print throughout the United States and internationally and

her poetry has been translated into German, French, and Italian. Her poetry has

been nominated for a Pushcart prize and has been featured on the trains and buses

of Minnesota's Metro Transit. She's performed as Featured Poet at the famed

Spoken Word Paris, in Paris, France (and longs to do so again!). She is currently

happily at work on a novel of magical realism.