 |
| The life-size marble statue of Adam, carved by Tullio Lombardo (Italian, ca. 1455–1532), is among the most important works of art from Renaissance Venice to be found outside that city today. In 2002, Adam was gravely damaged in an accident. Committed to returning it to public view, the Museum undertook a conservation treatment that has restored the sculpture to its original appearance to the fullest extent possible. --The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
No one knows
if Adam Accidental
fell this time
or was pushed.
His head broke
off, perfect torso
skittered across
the Metropolitan
patio, Adam fragments
found, but not Eve.
In the first fall,
Adam Deliberate yanked
that apple off
with purpose, kept
his footing. Unharmed
in the filming,
First Father still,
Eve, whole as
he, five minutes
before, glistening
under the new sun,
in the god's-eye
camera, ( restoration
experts say) became
Eve Egregious.
Ellen Devlin has studied poetry at the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, Hudson Valley Writers Center and Sarah Lawrence Writing Institute. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Poet's Lore, New Ohio Review, Women's Studies Quarterly, Redactions, Helix, Passager, The Lost River Review, as well as online in The New Verse News.