My brother, my friend
For so long, so long
bound in misery and chains of iron
your liver pecked out by those vultures,
those pretenders to eagles in their grotesque masquerade
where swollen bodies and Esav’s goat hold court on the peaks of stolen mountains, their shadows cast and fashioned into manacles
holding you fast to the crags of Seir.
But the Voice of G-d shatters cedars
and causes the desert to tremble
the mountains to clap
breaking your chains and carrying you far
far away
far enough to come home
my brother whose heart is a lion
G-d returns you to your mate
And how they will shriek
those vultures
those crocodiles thrashing
in the River Nile
How they will cry and how I will laugh
How welcome you are, my brother,
and how accursed your accusers
your captors
You sons of Esav
Remember this day
This day of freedom
This day of return
This day of love
Remember this day in the eyes of G-d
as you hold fast to your idols
your golden offerings
Remember the cold iron pressed upon my brother’s wrists
and feel the same coming to you
Remember the sword at his neck
and feel the bite on your skin
Remember the hatred you bore him
The way you tore him from his wife
for the sake of your vanity
and wait for your homes to rot
the pillars of your temples brought down upon your heads
the flames will rise and lap at your eyes
Take off your suits and wail!
Burn your idols, your stolen wealth, decorate yourself with the ashes!
Cry out to G-d!
As our fasts are your festivals,
so are our festivals your darkest hour
Cry out, cry out!
Remember,
and do not forget.
