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“The Imperfect Paradise” by Linda Pastan

[additional-authors]
September 25, 2013

If God had stopped work after the third day

With Eden full of vegetables and fruits,

If oak and lilac held exclusive sway

Over a kingdom made of stems and roots,

If landscape were the genius of creation

And neither man nor serpent played a role

And God must look to wind for lamentation

And not to picture postcards of the soul,

Or would he hunger for a human crowd?

Which would a wise and just creator choose:

The green hosannas of a budding leaf

Or the strict contract between love and grief?

Linda Pastan (1932-),  Modern Poems of the Bible – An Anthology, edited with an introduction by David Curzon, publ. by JPS, 1994, p. 39 – based on Genesis 1:6-13

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