Forbidden fruit? The serpent said
How quaint a notion in your head!
But modern thinkers now opine
Restrictive diets may incline
Towards repressive attitudes
So from our moral altitude
This fruit is good, you may include
It in your list, it may be chewed
Just go ahead and feast your eye
On what’s not yours, go gratify
And please yourself, do not restrain
Your hunger, just go stake your claim
My freedom now! Declare your rights
Do not frustrate your appetites
The earth is yours and all it holds
There is no law, go on, be bold
And so we sold our souls for dross
Our innocence for candy-floss
We traded in our naked joy
Gave it to him who would destroy
Our place in paradise we lost
Our mortal lives now count the cost
Squandered, Lord, your precious gift
Wandered, Lord, you felt the rift
With thorns and tares you cursed the ground
With thorns your sacred head we crowned
With tares the earth its crop would yield
With tears mankind would plough the field
Beneath the tree the crime was cursed
Upon the tree it was reversed
For in the cursed ground you lay
Then rose and blessed the rising day
Beside the waters from the throne
The tree of life now fully grown
Has healing in its fruit and leaves
No pain, no shame, no-one who grieves
No curse, no night, no need for light
The Lord himself will reign in might
And we shall see his glorious face
This King of glory, full of grace
© Neil Rogers 2022
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