These poems are three years old. I hadn't published them on this blog before, however. Adam's Joy Our protoplastic parents ventured east, And said farewell to Eden at the gate, With fresh-named animals in vast array (Those newly undomesticated beasts). They wondered at this young world's future fate, And Eve and her mourning were the ninth day. Though outwardly his brow was dewed with sweat, Young Adam's visage shone with inner light, Because the very God who bade him leave (Whose property is never to forget) Remembered his petition in the night: Take Eden, gracious Lord, but leave me Eve. © 2007, Paul Erlandson This one, I wrote for my wife: Attraction When other poets (e.g., Shakespeare, Donne) Compare their brilliant lovers to the sun, 'Tis heat they feel and blinding light they see. But I would praise my lover's gravity. A foolish planet wandering away I've traced unruly orbits of decay. But even when my homing sense is dull, No other star can lure me b