After Heaven and Earth

After heaven and earth had been separated
          and mankind had been created,
     after An&ucircum, Enlil and Ereskigal had taken posesssion
              of heaven, earth and the underworld;
     after Enki had set sail for the underworld
          and the sea ebbed and flowed in honor of its lord;
     on this day, a huluppu tree
          which had been planted on the banks of the Euphrates
          and nourished by its waters
     was uprooted by the south wind
          and carried away by the Euphrates.
     A goddess who was wandering among the banks
          siezed the swaying tree
     And -- at the behest of Anu and Enlil --
          brought it to Inanna's garden in Uruk.
     Inanna tended the tree carefully and lovingly
          she hoped to have a throne and a bed
          made for herself from its wood.
     After ten years, the tree had matured.
     But in the meantime, she found to her dismay
          that her hopes could not be fulfilled.
     because during that time
          a dragon had built its nest at the foot of the tree
          the Zu-bird was raising its young in the crown,
          and the demon Lilith had built her house in the middle.
     But Gilgamesh, who had heard of Inanna's plight,
          came to her rescue.
     He took his heavy shield
          killed the dragon with his heavy bronze axe,
          which weighed seven talents and seven minas.
     Then the Zu-bird flew into the mountains
          with its young,
     while Lilith, petrified with fear,
          tore down her house and fled into the wilderness

The Poetry of Lillyth The Love of a Succubus