Day 119: Soldier's Seder

This is dedicated to the Jewish-American members of the military who are having their seders in Iraq and Afghanistan this week, and to all Israelis who have ever held a seder in a bomb shelter.

Soldier's Seder
By Batsheva 3/30/10

We sit here
At our seder
Peaceful, calm
They celebrate
In dread
Of one more bomb

Salt water helps us
To remember tears
They dip too
Though they live each day
With fears

Although
I know
This thought
To some disturbs
To me
It seems
Their lives
Are bitter herbs

And yet they make
The choice
To live this life
For higher purposes
They live with strife

And in this way
They differ
From a slave
They are not victims
Rather
They are brave

For them and us
The seder
Gives a voice
To remember days
As slaves
Without a choice