One day Lilith came home
to Eden for a visit. She didn't intend
to stay long, just bring some fruits and flowers and see
how things were growing. So she stopped
in, said hello to Adam and God.
Both of them ignored her,

having long since written her
out of the story. Even the garden no longer felt like home.
Lilith looked over the handiwork of God,
the neat flower-beds He would tend
all day, every day. He never stopped
working, and never changed anything, as far as she could see.

But something had changed. Lilith turned to see --
another woman! Looking right at her!
Lilith loved her instantly. She thought her heart stopped
beating. She wanted to take this little sister home,
that is, out into the world. She went to extend
her hand, open her mouth to say hello, but God

stepped in between them, waving His hoe. God
hissed at Lilith, "Get back! Don't let the child see!"
He slammed the hoe in the ground between them, to portend
their separation. Eve had gone all big-eyed -- God scared her --
and fled when He said, "You girls go on home."
But Lilith had never been so angry. She stopped

God in his tracks with her shout. Then she stopped
yelling just to spit out, "God,
you are the biggest bully I've seen yet. Go on home?
You never even let that woman see
what kinds of homes the whole world has to offer her,
the nests, the palaces, the cozy dens. You pretend

this garden's all there is. Well, I contend
you ain't seen nothing yet!" She stopped,
kicking the loamy ground. God looked at her
and answered, "In My garden, I am the almighty God.
These children are grateful to see what I want them to see."
Lilith just groaned, threw down the fruits and flowers, and headed for home.

She wouldn't have stopped or even looked back if God
Himself had called her home. But Eve, in her hiding-place, did see
Lilith's apple go to seed, saw it take root untendeD.

                                              Vicka Rael Corey  1994