The Order of the Seder – A Passover Poem

    Kadeish – The Kiddish
Because if you’re doing any Jewish thing that
doesn’t start with wine, it may not be legitimate.

    Urchatz – Wash
We Jews had our pandemic protocols
centuries before we needed to.

    Karpas – Spring Vegetable
Ideally, straight from the farmer’s market.
Dipped in salt water so we get the
freshness of the new season and the
sadness of our past, all at once.

    Yachatz – Divide
Matzah, divided in half, hidden for later.
Enough for everyone! I think it’s just a trick
so no one has to eat an entire piece
of Matzah.

    Maggid – The Story
Who can retell?
We can retell.
In fact we’re mandated to.
Every detail.
Our favorite movie.
We watch it every year.
We’re the stars.

    Rochtzah – Wash
Because we’re hypochondriacs
we do this a second time. Even though
we just washed four steps ago.
My hands are still wet.

    Motzi Matzah – Eating Matzah
Nothing says get out of town quick
like unleavened bread. It’s ironic
it cooks so fast and passes so slow.

    Maror – Bitter Herbs
It’s bitter but we like it.
Our modern palate prefers things
with flavor, even if they burn
like life before we were free.

    Koreich – Hillel Sandwich
We mix the tastes of slavery and freedom
so they blend together and we
lose the difference. Like a little Purim
in our mouth.

    Shulchan Oreich – Meal
It’s a festive one with pillows and soup.
Half of our people don’t make it past this point.
I’m wondering if you’ll bother reading the
last four stanzas of this poem.

    Tzafun – Desert
Of course, there’s dessert.
The seder is long and we are not savages.
That matzah we broke earlier (if anyone can find it)
will be the last thing you taste tonight.

    Bareich – Grace After Meals
Our whole thing is to
bless a thing
do the thing
be thankful for the thing.
That’s our thing!

    Hallel – Psalms of Praise
This is where the inexpensive goat comes in.
Though in today’s money, two zuzim
wouldn’t get you a portion of goat cheese.
And the conversation about how to quantify
a human soul continues.

Nirtzah – Conclusion
Even long things must come to an end.
But if you book far enough in advance
you can do it again next year
in Jerusalem.

Los Angeles poet Rick Lupert created the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 26 collections of poetry, including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion“, “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “I Am Not Writing a Book of Poems in Hawaii” (Poems written in Hawaii – Ain’t Got No Press, August 2022) and edited the anthologies “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.