AN APPLE A DAY: AN ALLEGORY

Apples, millions and millions of ‘em

Consumed by millions and millions daily.

Folks just like you and I,

As a matter of fact you and I

In our lifetime have eaten

Our share and more,

Though we’d never admit it,

Be mortified if someone

Pointed out to us that we did.

Every man: saint, sinner,

And all gradations in between

Has savored this fruit,

Greedily devoured this fruit.

Maybe we’ll admit to a little nibble,

But every man takes big chomps,

Enjoys every forbidden bite,

Doesn’t stop to count the cost,

Fruit of the knowledge

The knowledge we think

Will give us the power.

By this time we should know better,

But we don’t.

‘Way back in Eden,

Our first parents, so they say,

Saw the same apple:

Scarlet, golden and shimmering,

They wanted a bite, HAD to have a bite

A bite of something not belonging to them.

It’s not a bad thing to want a bite

But to think they could “have” a bite,

And to reach out, grab, and bite down hard…

They were lost before the first drop

Of sweet. pure juice dribbled down Adam’s chin

And putrefied there the minute it hit.

And so it is today; we’re hardwired.

To want, to need, and to think it’s owed us,

But we’re also hard wired to forget

That biting into the fruit brings consequences..

And so we look at it: smooth, shiny, so good…

And we think of how sweet and juicy the taste,

And how much we’ll know once we’ve eaten,

And how much we’ll have, sometimes in the very name

Of Him from whom we’ve stolen the fruit.

What is not ours does not belong to us

Regardless of how we justify the taking,

Regardless of how we label what we hope to gain

By the eating.

The story ends and begins with our first parents

Finding themselves on the outside

Subject to forces and feelings never anticipated.

How could they? They did not know,

But they had to HAVE, and now they knew,

People say the Creator punished them. I wonder…

Perhaps it was not so much punishment,

As the Creator sadly letting things happen

As He knew they must, now that the apple was eaten,

They HAD, and they KNEW. Because of that

He no longer controlled the consequences,

They did, and now that they controlled,

One of the things they had sadly come to know,

Regardless of the situation or circumstance,

Was that they were too small

But couldn’t admit it. Nor can we…

So much the pity.

Chip Bergeron-

-July 13, 2012