from A New Genesis

or How the World Was Finally Saved

Adon Olom

Looked at

His handiwork

And said

Oi weh

How could the

One and Only

Make so many blunders?

I’ll have to start

All over again

This time

On a completely new

Principle please

Said the Heavenly Host

Bah said the One and Only

You’re just a bunch

Of cherubim and seraphim

What do you know of Principle?

The way I do is

Principle enough

Breed best to best

And scrap the rest

So He did it His way

And sent the flood

First saving Noah

Noah’s family

And the Two-of-each

But nothing else

And nothing changed

Look at this mess

Grumbled the Heavenly Host

You’ve got to do something

I did said

The One and Only

In the old model

I pushed the button

This is automatic

It pushes itself

They shook

Their heads

That’s not enough

They said

The Principle’s the same

Principles exploded

The One and Only

The Principle is

Genes and chromosomes

That’s how it works

That’s all there is

I’m the Creator

Around here

Go on

They jollied

Him

You can do

Better than

That

Try a little harder

It will come

I’m not changing

My Principle

Not for Heavenly Hosts

Not for anything

He stormed

Try creating a Suggester

Suggested Joe Seraph

I bet that will help

All right

He muttered grudgingly

But nothing else

So He created a Suggester

An orchardist

Left over from Eden

You have to do something

With leftovers

He explained

There’s nothing wrong

With genes and chromosomes

Said the Orchardist

But from seed

You can’t raise

Blue Parmain

Seeds don’t breed true

I’ll show you what I mean

Since apples are my specialty

Let’s start with them

He planted seeds

From the Blue Parmain

That grew in Eden

We’ll let them grow

A year or two

It takes a little time

Of course he said

The Heavenly Host squirmed

Looking at their watches

The One and Only coughed

And tapped His toe

But the Orchardist

Would not be rushed

Since this is still experimental

We’ll need controls he said

The seedlings on my right

We’ll leave untouched

The seedlings on my left . . .

No lectures said the

One and Only

Demonstrate

From the lone

Blue Parmain in Eden

The Orchardist

Sliced twigs

Made gashes in

The seedlings

On his left

Stuck in the twigs

Pressed beeswax

All around

They should stay moist

It’s grafting

He explained

Came May

Came buds

And lo

Seedlings from the

Ungashed right

And mutilated left

All

Burst greenly forth

Grafted and ungrafted

Lived and grew

Next year

Said the Orchardist

From the mutilated left

We’ll lop off

All that grew before I gashed

Leaving only twigs that I inserted

In the wounds nourished now

From trunk and roots

Of the self-same Blue Parmain

Its genes and chromosomes intact

Ten or twelve

Years later

Came the fruit

Dusted bluely

Blushing rosey

Sweet and juicy

From the left

But from the right

The ungashed Blue Parmain

Bore

Dried out

Sour

Bitter

Yellow

Fruit

The Orchardist smiled

And bowed

The One and Only scowled

And frowned

The Heavenly Host gathered

Into little whispering groups

It works with apples

But will it work with

Little Lower than the Angels?

And the time it takes

He’s not used to spending

That much time creating anything

Now there was a just man

Perfect in his generations

Noah of course

Left over from the flood

The One and Only said

I’ll graft from him

But what?

A nose

A finger

Genitalia

Hair

What should

I slice

And stick it where?

The Orchardist had

No idea

His specialty

Was apples

Another Suggester

Was clearly needed

Try a Cloner

Suggested Joe Seraph

So a Cloner was created

You want more Noahs?

The Cloner asked

All right

We’ll clone them

Take a slice from his

Immortal soul

And stick it in an

Unborn’s cloven mind

That will do it

And of course it did

Did it hurt?

Joe Seraph asked

I never felt a thing

Said Noah

That’s how

It came to pass

That everybody

Everywhere

Became just

And perfect

In their generations

And everybody lived

Happily and peacefully

Forever after.