Untitled

By Bruce Black

1

You won’t smell soup cooking yet
or cake or kugel or tzimmes baking
on the day before Passover.

There’s just the sight of empty
cupboards, counters crowded with
hametz, boxes of cereal, cans of
beans, jars of jelly.

The oven is cleaning itself
this year, but not the racks.
I’ll scrub them with a Brillo pad
until my arms and fingers ache
and the silver gleams and the
stains of the past year wash off
with the soapsuds down the drain.

Before long I’ll wipe the crust of crumbs
off the inside of the oven and I’ll wipe
all the countertops and the table, too, and

I’ll put away the toaster (after cleaning
it out) and begin stocking the shelves
with boxes of matzah and jars of
gefilte fish.

And soon that which we eat throughout
the year will be forbidden, and that which
we don’t eat will be what we eat

and our stomachs will shrink with our new
diet, and it will be Passover, and we’ll know
we are slaves again, hungry for what we

don’t have, and the hunger will remind us
of our suffering at the hands of the Egyptians
and once again will bring us closer to those
who suffer, enslaved, today.

2

Have you noticed how we try to remove
all the hametz from our lives
during Passover

as if hametz was another word for
pride, puffing us up like fools
so we are unable to see
the truth (or falsehood)

of our own life?

Maybe that’s the lesson of Passover
or maybe it’s about learning how to
walk along an unfamiliar path
where no path existed
before

or how to walk into darkness
and sandstorms
and heat
and a blinding
sun

how to keep walking toward
some unknown future
even if you can’t see
the horizon

knowing—just knowing—
you‘ll find your way, and
it will work out,

if not for you, then for your
children, and your children’s
children.

3

I’m waiting at the gate
on Passover eve
for my daughter’s plane
from Boston via Atlanta
and wondering when
she will appear.

It reminds me of the way
each year we wait
midway through our seder
for Elijah the Prophet
to come through
the open door.

And when my daughter
steps through security
and waves her hand— that little
wave she always gives—
I feel at peace again,
as if the holiday has
already begun.

Pop-Up Poetry Trivia !!!

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Famous-Poems-quiz

Famous Poems: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary," - What is the next line of this poem by Edgar Allan Poe?

2 / 20

"I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair" is the opening line of a poem by Pablo Neruda. What is the next line of this poem?

3 / 20

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a famous poem by T.S. Eliot. What is the next line of this poem after "Do I dare / Disturb the universe?"?

4 / 20

"The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"

- Who is the author of this poem?

5 / 20

"Because I could not stop for Death – 

He kindly stopped for me – 

The Carriage held but just Ourselves – 

And Immortality." 

 

- What is the title of this poem?

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

6 / 20

"O Captain! My Captain! 

our fearful trip is done, 

The ship has weathered every rack, 

the prize we sought is won."

 

 - Who is the author of this poem?

7 / 20

"Two roads diverged in a wood, 

and I - I took the one less travelled by, 

And that has made all the difference." 

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

8 / 20

"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong."

- Who is the author of this poem?

9 / 20

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep." 

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

10 / 20

"The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on."

- Who is the author of this poem?

11 / 20

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

 Old age should burn and rave at close of day; 

Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

 

- Who is the author of this poem?

12 / 20

"Ode to a Nightingale" is a famous poem by John Keats. What is the next line of this poem after "My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains"?

13 / 20

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul."

 - What is the title of this poem?

14 / 20

"A Contribution to Statistics" is a famous poem by Wislawa Szymborska. What is the next line of this poem after "Out of a hundred people"?

15 / 20

"I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils."

 - What is the title of this poem?

16 / 20

"Oh, my luve is like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June: Oh, my luve is like the melodie, That's sweetly play'd in tune."

- What is the title of this poem?

17 / 20

"Daddy" is a famous poem by Sylvia Plath. What is the next line of this poem after "You do not do, you do not do / Any more, black shoe"?

18 / 20

"The End and the Beginning" is a famous poem by Wislawa Szymborska. What is the next line of this poem after "After every war / someone has to clean up"?

19 / 20

"Because I could not stop for Death - He kindly stopped for me -"

- What is the next line of this poem?

20 / 20

"Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day;" - What is the next line of this poem by Dylan Thomas?

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Forms-Of-Poetry-Quiz

Forms Of Poetry: 20 Multiple-Choice Questions

1 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by three-line stanzas, with the second line repeating as the last line of the previous stanza?

2 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of two lines, with the first line asking a question and the second line providing an answer?

3 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form that uses the repetition of a single word or phrase at the end of each line, and can be as short as three lines or as long as multiple stanzas?

4 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a single line, typically with a specific syllable count or word limit, and often used to convey a strong emotion or idea?

5 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms originated in ancient Greece and typically consists of a long narrative poem about heroic deeds?

6 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which a single poem is created by combining lines from multiple different poems, typically by different authors?

7 / 20

What is the name for a poetic form consisting of 14 lines with a specific rhyme scheme and meter?

8 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a poem that tells a story through a series of quatrains, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB?

9 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a series of unrhymed tercets followed by a quatrain, with the same end words used throughout the poem in a specific pattern?

10 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which each line contains the same number of syllables?

11 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms consists of a series of six-line stanzas, with a specific rhyme scheme and the repetition of certain end words throughout the poem?

12 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by three stanzas of three lines each and a final quatrain?

13 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the last word of each line is repeated throughout the poem?

14 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which each line or stanza repeats the same sequence of words, but in reverse order?

15 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms originated in Italy?

16 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the poem's shape on the page reflects its subject matter?

17 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which the first letter of each line spells out a word or phrase?

18 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form consisting of a six-line stanza, with a rhyme scheme of A-A-B-B-C-C and a syllable count of 8-8-5-5-8-8?

19 / 20

What is the name of the poetic form in which a speaker addresses someone or something that is absent or not able to respond?

20 / 20

Which of the following poetic forms is characterized by a five-line stanza with a syllable count of 2-4-6-8-2, and typically contains a humorous or witty twist at the end?

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