MOURNING

 

On the paper's front page it said

BEST BABY EVER, KILLED! 

Well, the words were "Palestinian mother

Holds baby daughter killed in air raid"

But I knew this was the best baby ever

Since they all are. As a Kohain I am,

If you push back far enough to get

To the Bible, the grandson of Aaron

The first high priest. This means Moses is

My great uncle, more or less. Kohains

Are entitled to wear a turban and a sash

And to collect five shekels at a bris. Also

We're supposed to obey all sorts of rules

Including never looking on a corpse.

See one? Take off your turban and sash;

Don't enter prayer houses until you've been purified.

So, what purifies me after seeing the small corpse

Of the best baby ever? I asked Uncle Moses

Who said, really, he'd never gotten over 

All those Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea.

"I grew up in the palace, remember; I knew

Most of those soldiers. Thousands of years it is

But ask and I'll sing you one of their songs."