folio : Forty-five Ottawa poets
an excerpt from EVE, Outlandish, myriad retellings
EVE’s
skin ‘z rubbed raw
from
relentless scratching
flesh
red w/ rash
puckered
marks
naked
& swollen, EVE
guilty
of having a body
that
tempted the flee
of
gnawledge to taste her
flee
begat flee
begat
flee begat fly
&
bee
&
worm
&
cicada
&
locust
&
grasshopper
&
hornet
begat
murmuration
&
swarms & skies
crowded
with buzz
&
flutter
the
end of silence
rivers
choked
with
the wings
of
dying mayflies
trees
felled & carried
away
by ants
outcast
EVE
eats locusts w honey
gathered
from the combs
in
the dried carcasses of lions
and
maggots with pomegranates
clad
in leaves laced
with
the withered chew marks
of
caterpillars on the green
EVE
no
longer weeps
for
adam is lost to her
and
wandring in the desert
EVE
picks the fruit flies out of her
wine
gathers the eggs of scorpions
takes
solace in the creeping things
that
fly
Paragraph on what I’m working on at the moment
This is an excerpt from a new work in which I attempt to retell the story of Eve and other women in weird ways. inspired by the various feminist retellings of myth and a recent episode of Between the Covers in which David Naimon talks to Diana Arterian on her two latest books: Agrippina the Younger & Smoke Drifts
Arterian speaks about the erasure of women in accounts from ancient history. Agrippina was Nero’s mother and in one of the outlandish tales of her death, he cuts her open so he can see her womb, the site of his origin. I was also thinking about Maria Devana Headley’s retellings of Beowulf, her focus on Grendel’s mother. I may also write of Mary and of Joan of Arc in other weird versions of the story that my imagination can dream up. This one is a wordplayers delight, I hope. It was mine. I found out there were a lot of insects mentioned in the Bible.
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Amanda Earl (she/her) makes stuff, mostly from the 19th floor of an apartment between Chinatown & Centretown on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Peoples. Managing editor of Bywords.ca, editor of Judith: Women Making Visual Poetry, Earl has authored numerous creative works. In 2026, she’s collaborating with her husband Charles for Creatively Yours, a series of limited edition hybrid works that merge their mutual whimsies and heart. Earl writes so that kindred misfits don’t feel alone. Subscribe to Amanda Thru the Looking Glass, a Substack of recipes, cost-savings, quotes and sundry whims. AMANDAEARL.com
Alt text for photo: Amanda Earl leans against the railing of the Chaudiere Bridge. She wears a brown vest, hoodie, blue jeans, black shoes and sunglasses. In the background the sky is blue and cloudy. Buildings and trees frame the Ottawa River.
