"Eden," by Emily Grosholz

Emily Grosholz attended Yale University and the University of Chicago where she studied a multiple philosophical subjects, including the philosophy of literature, race, and science. She is currently a Liberal Arts Research Professor of Philosophy, African American Studies, and English and the Director of Philosophy Undergraduate Studies at Penn State University.

In lurid cartoon colors, the big baby

dinosaur steps backwards under the shadow

of an approaching tyrannosaurus rex.

"His mommy going to fix it," you remark,

serenely anxious, hoping for the best.

After the big explosion, after the lights

go down inside the house and up the street,

we rush outdoors to find a squirrel stopped

in straws of half-gnawed cable. I explain,

trying to fit in the facts, "The squirrel is dead."

No, you explain it otherwise to me.

"He's sleeping. And his mommy is going to come."

Later, when the squirrel has been removed,

"His mommy fix him," you insist, insisting

on the right to know what you believe.

The world is truly full of fabulous

great and curious small inhabitants,

and you're the freshly minted, unashamed

Adam in this garden. You preside,

appreciate, and judge our proper names.

Like God, I brought you here.

Like God, I seem to be omnipotent,

mostly helpful, sometimes angry as hell.

I fix whatever minor faults arise

with bandaids, batteries, masking tape, and pills.

But I am powerless, as you must know,

to chase the serpent sliding in the grass,

or the tall angel with the flaming sword

who scares you when he rises suddenly

behind the gates of sunset.

In her poem, "Eden," Emily Grosholz conveys the innocence and naivety of youth through her light-hearted, matter-of-fact tone. The child’s repetitive remark “his mommy going to fix it” conveys his belief that his “mommy” can fix anything and represents his youthful optimism. The tone and theme are also developed by the imagery of the "lurid cartoon cartoon colors" of the "big baby dinosaur" and the child's insistence that the dead squirrel is simply sleeping.

Grosholz further conveys this theme by alluding to the story of Adam and Eve. The mother (the speaker) states that her child is Adam, "freshly minted, unashamed," and she appears to to be God, always present and ready to help him.

The tone shifts as the mother adopts an apologetic and defeated tone, explaining that she is “powerless.” While she may appear to be omnipotent like God and ready to fix “whatever minor faults arise with band aids, batteries, masking tape, and pills,” she knows these problems are insignificant in comparison to what the future holds for her son. She explains to him that in this world "full of fabulous great and curious small inhabitants" there is also great evil, pain, and corruption that not even she can protect him from. Like God with Adam, she is powerless and can only hope that she has raised her child to be strong, to resist temptation, and to remain unwavering in his beliefs and values. After Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent and ate the apple, they realized that they were naked. Similarly, eventually the child will experience this evil, pain, and corruption, and realize that it's up to him to save himself.