Eid Mubarak!

A Poem To My Aunt

(My Aunt and I)

I forgave you for not telling me
When my father died,
I never let you know
How many tears I cried

By my own blood family
I was cruelly betrayed,
Even my husband and friends
Were thoroughly dismayed

You claimed you were respecting
The wishes of his wife,
By not letting me know he
Was at the end of his life

You admitted you were wrong,
And said you were confused,
The right to attend his funeral
I was refused

Now your daughter, my cousin
Has gotten engaged,
My desire to come to the
Wedding has you enraged

The thought of your Muslim niece
Coming to the Jewish service
Dressed in garb, wearing hijab
Has gotten you nervous

How would you explain it
To all of your friends?
If it offended them,
How could you make amends?

Concerned with appearances
and how it might look,
You removed my picture
From the family scrapbook

My conversion to Islam
You cannot accept
Far from the family fold
I have been kept

L’chaim to my cousin
On her wedding day
To keep the family peace,
I will stay away