Poetry that re-writes Eve

Writing about women again! Poetry (pen) Pals #56

We don’t need International Women’s Day to give us permission to shout about excellent poetry written by women. We’re doing that year round. But if you insist…

I inadvertently found myself trawling through poems on the theme of Eve and the Garden of Eden this week. How very apt. Turns out there are many poems that re-write this story (can’t think why). How very tempting (see what I did there?)

Here are a few of my finds:

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Eve to her Daughters, by Judith Wright. Read the full thing here.

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‘Of Eve’ by Gina Bowen from Sunday Mornings at the River.

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eve’s version, by Lucille Clifton

This is ‘eve’s version’ by Lucille Clifton.

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Eve Remembering by Toni Morrison via Poets.org

This is ‘Eve Remembering’ by Toni Morrison via Poets.org

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Autobiography of Eve by Ansel Elkins

‘Autobiography of Eve’ by Ansel Elkins.

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A writing prompt:

I liked the idea of writing a poem on this theme. I rolled the titles of the poems above around my tongue.

Eve’s autobiography, Eve remembering, eve’s version, Of Eve, Eve to her Daughters. I started to add a few ideas of my own, a list forming down the page:

Eve’s last words, Eve wants us to know, Eve without Adam, Eve on a night out in 2025.

As the list grew I started to notice which ones were enticing me. Where I felt I had a little bit more to give. I’ve never done this before - played around with titles to get me going. Often the title is the last piece in the puzzle, I find titles tricky tbh.

A few times I fell short, the delicious title turning into nothing but a shiny sign above a closed door. And then the odd time my head fell to the side, eyes up to the left. A couple of times I’m gonna say I made it into the garden.

I’m hoping that in the coming weeks I might have something to show on this theme.

Might you want to give this one a go?

Nelly x

P.s Which is your favourite of the poems above? Or do you know of another you want to add to the mix? I’d love to hear from you.