Lilith

A poem cycle that explores both relatiionships and gender roles using folklore and anecdotes. Lilith, Eve, and Adam are used as foils for modern relationship dynamics and experiences. To complicate the tension, the archetypes of the Maiden, Mother, Crone and the Warrior, Father, and Sage are used to shape the entirety of human experience. The full range of emotion from shame to tenderness is explored with Lilith as the guide that gives permission to bring the self forward.

The poet declares the fall of Adam, not the fall of Eve or the fault of Eve. Lilith gives permission for same-sex desire and calls for the full person to match another full person in relationship. Men are not villified but made responsible for their own destiny. An apple does not excuse them, nor does it allow for their mistreatment of their Eve. They are called to become the Warrior, Father, and Sage, sacrificing as much as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone and loving just as deeply.

Lilith counsels that there are no perfect relationships but shows that even as we care for each other, as our bodies fail, there is love and tenderness that does not fade with or without original sin.