According to men
original sin is a woman
tempted by knowledge.
Naked and ignorant and perfect
for a blissful life of child-rearing
And wifely duties
She gave up paradise to learn.
Her moral failing was
To fill her mind
Not her *****

We are taught the first sin
According to men
Was a woman who learned--
Learned there is more than what her veiled eyes see
A woman sought enlightenment
Truth corrupts powerfully enough
To bring a world crashing down

It always sounded so simple
As a child
I heard the rule, the man’s rule:
don’t eat the apple
And I thought
what a stupid woman
Doesn’t she appreciate what she has?
With only one no in a world of yes
Why did she do it, why couldn’t she resist?

Now I admire her.

She would rather
The real world, with it’s pain
and labor and fault
Than one constructed for her by a god
who wants her to know little enough
to accept it as perfect.

The crime was questioning the paradigm.
And whenever examination of a system
Is deemed unacceptable
Don’t we know there is a problem
Hiding?

easily found by a brave woman
With curiosity,
Willing to lose everything
To know what she doesn’t know