Jewish Poetry

Until this day
this day at the river
this day after forty years of days
after forty years with the same clothes
the clothes as fresh as day one
the same shoes as sturdy as they were
on the Egyptian shoe rack

I did not have the heart to know
to know where my heart belonged
to know to Whom it belonged

I did not have the eyes to see
to see where I was going
to see the short path across the river

I did not have the ears to hear
to hear the praise and the warning
to hear the sounds of miracles –

Until this day
this day at the river
my stomach sated for decades
my thirst not unquenched for decades
my enemies smoted –

Until this day
my heart and eyes and ears
functioning organs again –
I know what I have to do.