Art & Culture

Adam

18th November 2019 /

I am clay, dust,
Colour of rust,
Earthy, muddy,
Soil born, ruddy,
So feminine,
Cursed by sin.

Human from humus,
Earthling from the earth,
Adam from Adamah.
My (or her) chutzpah
Over-played our worth,
Caused history’s first ruckus.

So fruitful was the soil,
With every type of tree,
So pleasant to the taste,
And o so good to see.
But sin made all a waste
And turned my work to toil.

I, Adam, finest fruit
Of earth, its choicest crop.
For her I lost a rib,
Asleep became a crib,
The deftest divine chop
Made me the woman’s root.

I, Adam, living mud,
Once risen from the ground,
Now eaten by its jaws,
It opens for my blood,
And held within its claws
I wake and walk earthbound.

The soil is water,
Washing, baptising,
The wheat grain dying;
The rotting, crying,
Are fertilising,
Making son, daughter.

Then born anew,
The mud made true,
Mankind untrapped,
Now heaven rapt,
The victory won,
The curse undone.

Fr Joseph Evans is a Catholic priest and member of the Opus Dei prelature. He has been a journalist and youth worker, and is currently a university chaplain in Oxford. He is co-founder and Editorial Director of Adamah, which he sees as bringing together some of his great passions: good writing, intelligent and honest discussion, and helping young people achieve their full potential.

4 Comments

  • Noelia

    28th July 2020 at 19:22

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate your efforts and
    I will be waiting for your next post thanks once again.

  • Brayden

    6th August 2020 at 05:30

    Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this,
    like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the
    message home a bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog.
    An excellent read. I will definitely be back.

  • Collette

    29th August 2020 at 16:54

    Howdy! This article could not be written any better!
    Looking at this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He continually kept preaching about this. I will forward this information to him.
    Pretty sure he’ll have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!