Adam And Eve

Ever since Adam and Eve took a bite of the apple, we have been haunted by Desire, that shape-shifting seducer who promises us beauty, understanding and fulfillment if only we chase after More. On the one hand, that is a blessing. We would still be clumsy, clueless creatures huddling in caves - or naked in the Garden - without it. Desire and appetite drive our ambition, fire our curiosity and lead us to discover in ways that complacency and fullness never can. It is Desire that propels culture forward, urging us to explore, to dare, to persevere so we may uncover all the wisdom, comforts and delights that make life grand.

QUILTING: POEMS 1987-1990.Lucille Clifton.BOA Editions. 89 pages. $12 paper. Lucille Clifton's seventh book of poems is perhaps the strongest evocation to date of one of America's most consistent and powerful poetic voices. In this new book, which is organized around the metaphor of quilting, Ms. Clifton -- a former Maryland poet laureate who now is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College -- returns to the themes of community, family, love, myth and language that have been her trademark since her poems began appearing in the late 1960s.

Some of the best regional dance talent was seen last night as the Columbia Festival of the Arts rounded up Kinetics Dance Company, the Dance Dimension and Kathy Wildberger for a performance at Wilde Lake High School.The lengthy program of seven dances spotlighted the breadth of local talent (both choreographically and technically) and gave an overview of diverse choreographic styles.The first half of the evening was dominated by works by Marilyn Byers, artistic director of Dance Dimension.

Bible story Children of Eden, a biblical musical that starts with Adam and Eve and ends with the Flood, begins performances at Ford's Theatre in Washington tonight. With a score by Stephen Schwartz -- composer of Godspell and, more recently, Wicked -- Children of Eden was initially composed as an oratorio. It became a full-scale musical with the aid of librettist John Caird, best known as the director of Les Miserables and Nicholas Nickleby. The show met with lukewarm reviews when it debuted in London in 1991, but Schwartz and Caird reworked it, and the result has been produced extensively, though never on Broadway.

When the screen suddenly went blank at the climactic moment of Sunday night's finale of The Sopranos, we imagine that many Americans reacted the way we did. We started panicking, angrily jabbing buttons on the remote control, checking the connections, wondering if somehow the broadcast had been interrupted. But no. That was it. Tony and Carmela and A. J. in a diner, Meadow rushing toward the door, Tony glancing up and then - nothing. Blank screen. No music. After a few seconds, the credits roll.

IMAGINE A BOA CONSTRICTOR on the loose. Would anyone care about the well-being of the fearsome creature? Not likely. Any concern would be reserved for safety of residents.In Baltimore County's Glen Arm, a community is outraged over a neighbor's indoor breeding farm for pythons and boa constrictors. In Howard County's Ellicott City, however, where a domesticated reptile is on the loose, there is no fear from residents, only sympathy that something awful will happen to the critter. Neighbors are forming search parties to find Floyd the iguana before he succumbs to cold weather or human predators.

Voices By Lucille Clifton BOA Editions / 59 pages / $22.95 Although National Book Award winner and former Maryland poet laureate Lucille Clifton is a woman of few words, she makes each of them count. Her latest book, Voices, continues Clifton's tradition of autobiographical Zenlike poems showcasing Clifton's instinct for the evocative image and the just-right ending. Most of the poems personify inanimate things as well as plants, animals and deceased family members. Several poems concern growing up a black woman in a white culture.

Some of the best regional dance talent was seen last night as the Columbia Festival of the Arts rounded up Kinetics Dance Company, the Dance Dimension and Kathy Wildberger for a performance at Wilde Lake High School.The lengthy program of seven dances spotlighted the breadth of local talent (both choreographically and technically) and gave an overview of diverse choreographic styles.The first half of the evening was dominated by works by Marilyn Byers, artistic director of Dance Dimension.

Now here's something nice: A made-for-cable film that manages to believably evoke an older time and place in all its ugliness, while also projecting charm and hope and even a strong message of relevance to today.The movie is "Sudie and Simpson," premiering at 9 tonight on the basic cable Lifetime service (with repeats Sept. 14, 15 and 17). Louis Gossett Jr. and Sara Gilbert (Darlene on "Roseanne") are the stars, and the loosely autobiographical novel "Sudie" by Sara Flanigan (who adapted the screenplay)

Standing in a grove of fig trees is like being surrounded by wizards. Their branches droop like beards, resilient from years of travel and adaptation. They're round, ancient and wise, but best of all, they make magic. Just twice a year, they quietly transform their violet-hued branches with wide, majestic leaves into long arms laden with plump, succulent fruit. By biting into one, you can sink your teeth into the past. The fig's roots are woven into early history. They were first harvested between 4000 and 2700 B.C., when they began their trek from Egypt and Arabia to Greece, Italy, Mexico, Virginia and - in the 16th century - to California.