Jennifer Bullis

Self-Portrait as Eve


I heard the tree groan under the weight.

Each crimson globe shining with its burden
of sweetness and regret.

When I reached for the fruit, the stem gave way
even before I tugged.

When I tasted it, a root
bit into my mind.

It branched and bloomed there,
brought the bees in,

humming and stinging.

Back to Issue XII…


Jennifer Bullis is the author of Impossible Lessons (MoonPath Press) and of poems and essays appearing in Bracken, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Rhino Poetry, and Terrain.org. She is an Artsmith Residency Fellow and finalist for the Brittingham & Pollak and Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prizes. She holds a Ph.D. from University of California-Davis and lives in Bellingham, Washington, where she writes about long-distance foot travel, deforestation, repurposing myth, horse-keeping, and women in the courtroom.