{"id":30000,"date":"2016-04-22T14:05:43","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T18:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=30000"},"modified":"2016-04-22T15:33:54","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T19:33:54","slug":"passover-poem-four-acrostics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/04\/22\/passover-poem-four-acrostics\/30000\/","title":{"rendered":"A Passover Poem and Four Acrostics"},"content":{"rendered":"

In honor of the eight-day Jewish holiday that celebrates faith, exodus, and freedom and that begins with a seder at sundown tonight (April 22), we asked a few writers for poetry about Passover, especially for acrostics\u2014poems in which the first letter of each line spells out Passover or Pesach.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Untitled-3\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please remember, Children,
\nAs you hunt for leaven and yeast,
\nSomeone who claims that boycotts
\nServe the Middle East
\nOnly wants to keep you
\nVirtually enslaved,
\nEating the bread of exile
\nRamses\u2019 children saved.<\/p>\n

–Jonathan Rosen is the author of fiction and nonfiction, including <\/i>The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey between Worlds and the novel <\/i>Joy Comes in the Morning.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prologue to the meal:
\nA story of
\nSacred flight.
\nSay a candle-lit prayer
\nOver enemies
\nVanquished.
\nEat the unleavened bread.
\nRemember. Remember.<\/p>\n

–Linda Pastan is the author of over twelve books of poetry and essays. Her recent collections include<\/i> The Last Uncle, Queen of a Rainy Country, Traveling Light, and<\/i> Insomnia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Poor person’s bread
\nEgyptian bondage
\nSlavery ended
\nAnimal sacrifice
\nCrossing Reed Sea
\nHar Sinai<\/p>\n

—Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg is director of communications, outreach, programs, and interfaith relations for the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pray
\nEach
\nSyrian
\nAlso
\nComes
\nHome.<\/p>\n

—Geraldine Brooks<\/a> is the author of five novels, including <\/i>The Secret Chord and <\/i>People of the Book.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Untitled-4\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is 1975, the year before my parents stop speaking,
\ntwo years before the police drag him
\nraving from our door. Old, rabbinical, Uncle Leo
\ntakes his glasses off to gesture,
\nwhile on my shoulder my brother softly dozes.
\nAt last, triumphantly, my aunt holds the plate
\nof offerings aloft. On it a broken eggshell
\nand the shank bone of a lamb. My father still
\nis happy; not manic, not depressed.
\nHe stands with an electric carving knife
\nnear the windowsill geraniums
\nin a shadowed Brooks Brothers suit.
\nMy mother takes off her sparkling
\nhead scarf to kiss him.
\nFrom the kitchen drifts the smell
\nof pot roast and string beans
\nand sweet potato pie.
\nIt is beautiful and fragile, that instant,
\nbut I can’t keep it from what happens next:
\nmy mother swings the door open to starlight;
\nmy father pours an extra glass of wine.
\nDazed, I gulp at my grape juice,
\nwatching the pendulum of the grandfather clock
\nflicker in the candle’s light. A dish falls
\nin the kitchen, cracking. Someone curses.
\nI hear a cough. It grows chokingly quiet,
\nas though time itself considering
\nwhich direction to go next.
\nMy now-dead uncle taps me on the back.<\/p>\n

—Pamela Greenberg<\/a> is the author of<\/i> The Complete Psalms: The Book of Prayer Songs in a New Translation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honor of the eight-day Jewish holiday that celebrates faith, exodus, and freedom and that begins with a seder at sundown tonight (April 22), we asked a few writers for poetry about Passover, especially for acrostics\u2014poems in which the first letter of each line spells out Passover or Pesach. More →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":30052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Passover Poem and Four Acrostics | April 22, 2016 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/04\/22\/passover-poem-four-acrostics\/30000\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Passover Poem and Four Acrostics | April 22, 2016 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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