Paradise Regained

Abstract

Paradise Regained Jane Hicks (bio) I, who erewhile the happy Garden sangBy one man's disobedience lost, now singRecovered Paradise to all mankind... —John Milton, Paradise Regained, Book One When I laid down in loveand got up in shame, they sent meto my aunt in Charleston. Hot,ripe, and fetid, the overbearinggreen pressed me into myself. Of an evening, I learned to takethe breeze on the widow's walk,the rolling blues of the harborcooled my eyes, allowed meto stretch, unfold, breathe. Approaching storms sent the oceanrolling like a procession of ridges,on and on until I believed I stoodon the mountain where my kin slept,the wrinkled ridge and valley blue,purpled, and frothy with dogwood. In the rising night, the moon glitteredon the swells like a cold blueHunters' Moon on first frost,dark shadows mimicked inky deep hollows.I kept vigil until the gale drove me below. [End Page 30] My grippe packed, I left buta note. The preacher will condemn,the whispers burn and scald,I listen only to the mountainsthat called me home. [End Page 31] Jane Hicks A native of upper East Tennessee, Jane Hicks is an award-winning poet and quilter. She is the author of two poetry collections: Blood and Bone Remember and Driving with the Dead. Her poetry has appeared in journals and numerous anthologies, and her "literary quilts" illustrate the works of playwright Jo Carson and novelists Sharyn McCrumb and Silas House. Her poem "Paradise Regained" originally appeared in the Fall 2002 issue of Appalachian Heritage. Copyright © 2018 Berea College