Thank you, your Honor.

Lilith and Eve are not enemies,
nor foils of one another,
nor the “wrong” or “right” way for women to exist.

Lilith and Eve are not friends,
nor conspirators,
nor whatever fiction men conjur them to be.

Lilith and Eve are bound in time and circumstance–
Members of the jury, Adam is not the pillar upon which we should rest our understanding of their feminine perspective or perception.

Lilith is not a demon,
she does not eat children or baptize us in seduction to steal our innocence.
She is a creation of Mother Earth’s clay,
the very ground upon which we stand.
Imagine that–
our balance relies on her.

Eve is not fashioned from a rib,
nor is she subservient and pure.
She strings together sweet fig leaves,
but not out of shame.
Her eyes opened to the possibility of edging closer to nature,
to the awakening and welcome reception of revealing what’s covered,
hidden from view in plain sight.
Eve was framed.

Lilith and Eve are not criminals.
Lilith is self-employed and prefers solitude on business trips,
though she does enjoy the occasional one-night-stand–
who could blame her? 
It gets lonely on the road to freedom.

Eve is a fruit connoisseur and a fashion designer who
suffers the blame for eviction from paradise,
but makes no apology for biting at the chance for an upgrade–
wouldn’t you?
A garden can provide without satisfaction.
We all deserve answers.
We all deserve satisfaction.

Lilith and Eve are not unlawful,
their reputations have been soiled by millennia of patriarchal slander.
It is imprudent to continue to entertain this smear campaign.
These women are not guilty of the crimes the prosecution presents before us.

All charges should be dropped.
On what grounds?
Insufficient evidence and false testimony.

The defense rests.