Purim: Take A Page From Esther’s Book

Mordechai said to Esther in a palace scene,
before she became that nation’s Queen,
Don’t dare to think it’s only you
of everyone who lives here as a Jew,
who will manage to escape with your own life,
if you keep silent in this strife.

Don’t think that you will miss the flame
by laying low to avoid the blame,
or believe this won’t come around to you
because you’re among the very few,
who will be spared the conflagration
that’s engulfing the world and our nation.

This bubble of sheltered innocence
in which we’ve lived in ignorance,
is being pulled and stretched enough to burst,
unleashing forces of the very worst,
that threaten to drag us, one and all
into a rough and tumble backroom-brawl.

We must stand and speak against this hate
and turn the tide before it’s too late.
Not take for granted what’s been our nook,
but take a page from Esther’s book,
and persuade the powers about the coming storm
so we can elevate our country’s norm.

For then is now in a turn of time;
what once was hidden is now a crime.
Our silence spells complicity,
if we don’t call out this toxicity.
It doesn’t die by looking away;
it won’t go without our say.

This year, let’s gift our neighbour and our friend
produce from the garden which we tend:
fruits of tolerance and respect,
gathered with care, not neglect,
and nourish the plants with water and food,
while the sun brings what we’ve long pursued.

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