juice-heavy fruits on every tree.
No, I miss Wolf, his head upon my knee
and brush of wings as Sparrow pecked a kiss.
Remember Lion beside us, purring bliss?
Hyena on her back, paws waving free?
The friendly bleats and growls surrounded me.
For one forbidden sweet I lost all this.
Even the sneaky snake would deign to speak.
He lied, but then he didn't cut us dead
-- a metaphor -- not as the beasts now do
in bloody fact. Hoof-slash and rending beak
they rip each other's flesh; their fangs drip red.
I sinned; but, God, must they be banished too?
Phyllis Sterling Smith
http://www.dragonhaven.net/My%20Poetry.html
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