RECASTING

In some world where they do things better

Paradise Lost is a comedy, ending in a marriage

The evidence is all there: Eve and Satan

Were meant for each other. Milton could not

Conceal the strength of their attraction;

Satan softens when he sees her, almost forgetting

Who he is; she hears music when he speaks.

Adam means well, but is the fiance foisted on Eve –

The role Ralph Bellamy plays as he waits

For Cary Grant to cut him out again –

In Act Last, God would play out his role:

The Angry Father Who Finally Forgives

And blesses the errant lovers. Jesus, I think,

Would do well as the wily servant who sets things right.

After the climax, we might see Sin and Death

Performing their vaudeville routines

Which somehow never grow old.