Lilith's Challenge
Deformation and subversion of a prior form.
Hello Readers,
I’m not going to say much about this piece. It’s a subversive act upon a prior work. It will probably be apparent what the source material is. But maybe not. You figure it out.
Kisses from the clown car,
—C
In a green garden on a blue mote circling a persistent flame there lived a people whose name was Empire.
These people were peerless by birthright; they refused living in the hands of the Garden and shunned its call. They conquered its lands and the seas, and took ownership of every tree, every rock, yoked the elements, and had eight billion servants. They placed themselves as lords over all of the Garden.
They would hold feasts in their fortresses after their victories, and they would command the defeated to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Empire would make arrangements for the ruled to be purified with laws of life and death for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my people have sinned and cursed Power in their hearts.” This was Empire’s regular custom.
One day Lilith, emissary of the Garden, came to confront POWER.
POWER said to Lilith, “Where have you come from?”
Lilith answered POWER, “From roaming throughout the Garden, going back and forth on it.”
Then POWER said to Lilith, “Have you considered my children? There is none in the Garden above them; they are blameless and upright, who refuse to live in the hands of the Garden and shun its call.”
“Do your children worship you for nothing?” Lilith challenged. “Have you not put battlements around them and everything they have taken? Have you not blessed the work of their hands, so that their aims and desires leave nothing but the conquered in their wake? But will they still worship your righteousness in your absence? Or will they will vie and kill each other over all gained from their dominion? Surely they will curse you to your face.”
POWER said to Lilith, “Very well, then try to recover everything they rule as theirs, but on Empire do not underestimate.” Then Lilith went out from the presence of POWER.
The next day, while Empire’s followers were feasting and drinking in their fortresses, messengers came.
A messenger said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put your servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Another said, “Fire fell from the heavens and burned up the granary and your servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Another said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put your servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Yet another messenger said, “Your champions and heirs were feasting and drinking wine in the High Citadel, when a sudden and mighty wind swept in from the encroaching desert and struck the four corners of the stronghold. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
At this, Empire cried and tore their robes and shaved their heads. Then they fell to the ground in worship and said: “Alone we rose above the Garden, and we alone will remain. POWER will restore what has been taken away, will overcome all threats and vanquish all foes; may the name of POWER be praised.” In all this, Empire did not sin by charging POWER with wrongdoing.
The next day Lilith came again to confront POWER.
And POWER said to Lilith, “Where have you come from?”
Lilith answered POWER, “From roaming throughout the Garden, going back and forth on it.”
Then POWER said to Lilith, “Have you considered my children? There is none in the Garden like them; they are peerless by birthright, who refuse to live in the hands of the Garden and shun its call. And they still maintain their integrity, though you incited them against me to ruin their reign.”
“Skin eats skin!” Lilith replied. “I have incited nothing. Empire digs graves for their own lives. But now watch the wasting of your shield arm as it leaves bare their flesh and bones, for surely they will curse you to your face.”
POWER said to Lilith, “Very well then, claim the Garden as sacred; but stronger still is Empire’s life.”
So Lilith went out from the presence of POWER to find Empire afflicted with painful sores from the soles of their feet to the crown of their heads. Then Empire took pieces of shrapnel and scraped their skin as they sat among the ashes.
Lilith called out, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse Power and live!”
Empire replied, “We are still fittest, and the only the fittest survive, is that not the law of the Garden? We shall overcome.” In all this, Empire did not sin in what it said.
Lilith answered, “And yet here you sit, besieged by your might. You have twisted the law of the Garden to sanctify your selfish deeds. You exist because of the Garden, not from the occupation of it.”
Then Lilith sent a plea for witnesses to the troubles that had befallen Empire. Three Gardenkin, Eliphaz the Gorilla, Bildad the Crab, and Zophar the Raven had set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with Empire and comfort it. They could hardly recognize what they saw; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with Empire for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to Empire, because they saw how great their suffering was.
After this, Empire opened its many mouths and cursed the day of its birth. It said:
“May the day of our birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A ruler is conceived!’ May those who curse days curse that day, and us who court and lie with Leviathan. Why did not the Garden shut its gates to hide trouble from our eyes? Why did we not perish at birth, and die when we forsook the Garden? Why were there knees to receive us and breasts that we might be nursed? For it is us who built for themselves a kingdom now lying in ruins and left the rest bleeding under our feet. Why is life given to a people whose fate is hidden, whom Power has hedged in? For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”
And then Lilith, who had come to comfort Empire as they named their grief, laid a hand on Empire’s torn faces and said, “Come home. Come home, beloved. Come home and end your suffering. Come home and belong once again.”