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Even though I saw the snake,
I stretched my hand and seized the fruit.
But did not know its scent or taste
For wide above me lurked the Eye.
The Eye the Eye the prying Eye --
Eye who knows, Eye who hates me!
A hundred miles I've run to hide
And still am pinned beneath the Eye.
With Eye above and fruit in hand
I dared the snake mind to mind.
He hissed and grinned and struck the air
And knew I'd dine without a care.
Eye's dagger above, snake fangs below,
Held in fear, I defied them both.
Despising every lie and truth
I bit the red fruit and wore its juice.
The sapient snake saw me with his tongue;
Tasted blood in the air and blood on my lips.
I drank the whole cup and ate the rind;
Tucked away the seed for another time.
As I stepped away from the leafless tree
The snake slid forward with a silken move.
When he hissed I turned to hear,
"Look at your hands and know cold fear!"
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"On this tree hangs human hearts,
Whole round bloody and warm.
On this tree no leaves will sprout,
But just around dusk a red bud takes form."
"And in this bud someone's heart is jailed,
Bloody red fruit among these limbs.
These captured hearts, doomed to wail,
Are jealous and hungry and slaves impaled."
I dared the snake with a bloody grin.
"These weeping hearts are my feed and soul!"
Fresh lightning surged in my limbs,
Electric heat from the round red fruit.
A long slow sigh sounded from the snake
As he wound closer along the limb.
He lifted his cold head, close to my face.
"Eat your doom, then, and eat again!"
Just then my heart began to leap
My hands to tremble, my skin to creep.
Through swirling fog the Eye appeared
And I fell to pieces beneath the tree.
And among me the rummaging limbs
Picked and prodded and stirred me up.
Nothing ever chilled me more
Than the final sight of my departing heart
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