Eve's Mistake

What if Eve’s sin wasn’t defiance, but generosity? This poem is about the weight women carry, not for what they take, but for what they give away. Dedicated to every woman who has had to carry too much.

Eve, if you could hear me,
Please know I don’t hate you.
I understand.

Your error wasn’t covering your body,
Though you should have been
Naked, flawless, and free.

It wasn’t that you ate from the tree,
Apple, orange, it was never said.

It wasn’t that you named the animals
Instead of letting them run wild.

No, it wasn’t that.
Not that you let Adam reign,
Or let him believe you weren’t his equal.
Not that you bore humanity.
Not that you spoke to the serpent.

Not that you trusted your instinct
Over God’s warning not to know.

Your mistake
Was believing you had to share.
That you had to give Adam
What you discovered.

To overgive.
To not receive.
To not hold.

That was the sin.

And I see it in every woman.
For she is Eve.
She is you.

She overgives.
She is generous with her love.
And exiled. Expelled from paradise,

Because she loved.