Adam & Eve

A painting on the cave wall of the tenth century C.E. Churchof Abreha and Atsbeha in Ethiopia. The church is named after two kings— Abreha and Atsbeha— who ruled the ancient kingdom of Axum in the fourth century C.E. The murals were added in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

A tattoo on my inner thigh by Barham Williams

My California King Snake is named Yves. He’s a Leo (born just eight days before and many years after me.) He bit me the first time I tried to handle him which was around the age the internet had advised me to. He mostly hides beneath his water bowl.

I haven’t tried to pick him up since. His infantile bites were slight but I couldn’t find a way to soothe him and now I think it’s too late. We feed him curled, pink mice and sometimes he lets me watch as his jaw unhinges and he takes them, honestly.

I wanted to get the snake tattooed on my other inner thigh but getting tattooed there makes me feel something not unlike how I feel in a Yin posture that compresses my stomach which is to say nauseated and sad about something I can’t name.

Even my kneecap was easier.

Here is a poem I like.

BECAUSE WOLVES ARE A PROTECTED SPECIES, THIS ONE IS MERELY INTERROGATED
Ron Koertge

Show us on the map where you often lurk.
Don’t be afraid. It’s just the two of us.

Would a cigarette help? A soft drink?
Start with the woodsman’s hut? These places

here and here and here—what are they called?
Take your time. I can offer you money,

and a new identity. Why even hesitate?
Look, this wristwatch belonged to my father.

It’s yours if you tell the truth.
Those sites I asked you about earlier—

your favorite was Bridesmaid’s Dress.
Don’t embarrass us both by pretending.

Name your most frequent visitor.
That’s right. Now we’re getting somewhere.

Pretend I am young and innocent. Say to me
exactly what you would say to her.

Do you think you can fool me? And we were
getting along so well. I’ll ask another way.

This item of intimate apparel is called
a galvanic bonnet-with-blue-cornflowers.

Put it on. Now point to Grandma’s house.