Esther
אסתר
Chosen by the King of Persia
from every virgin in Shushan,
Esther, the hidden one
does not reveal her nation or her birth.
Does she sleight her Jewish behind her sex appeal?
Or maybe she tucks the frayed hem of her poverty
beneath her waistband as she approaches the palace?
How withered are the pink blind roots of wandering
she buries in the walled garden? How old the god
she rolls under loose soil to become royal?
Whatever she hides, she hides it twice. The first time
it’s her nation and then her birth, as if to make it
through round one of the virgin ball
she can be poor, she can be orphaned
but she had better be home grown.
After the crown is placed on her head
still oiled by the last queen’s scalp
maybe with a black hair wound
around the center sapphire, she hides again
now her birth before her people
proving that once you’ve worn a gold silk dress
and carried a ruby too large to swallow
it’s better to be caught blackhanded but shining
then let them see how easily you w
A poem for the eve of Purim.
'Esther' from 'The Shortest Skirt in Shul' by trans Rabbinical student Sass Orol!
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