79 - Rosh Chodesh Nisan

It happens every April. Just as the tulips start to open in the flower bed beneath my kitchen window, I find myself teetering on an edge. It is spring, it is warmer and sunnier and everything is unfolding, blossoming. It is also for me the time of anniversaries: I was first diagnosed with cancer in April. I recurred the following April. One year, walking from the car to Reid’s aunt’s house for seder, I fell. It was April. I struggle against the memories as my mind tries to take wing with the world around me. I struggle to prepare my self and my soul for the beauty of Pesach.

Seventy-Nine

Rosh Chodesh Nisan

In the new moon of Nisan,
You hang redemption’s promise
On budding spring branches
And we begin to ready ourselves.

In the spring month, the month of beginnings,
We thank You, our Redeemer, for the promise.

As a bird calls in the predawn hour,
So You summon us to awaken, to arise,
To awaken and prepare our hearts
For the time of our release from bondage.

In the days of spring beginnings,
We praise You, our Redeemer, for the mustering call.

Early, early, we will shake out our garments,
Shaking out crumbs of distress
That itch against our skin,
That abrade our souls.

Nisan begins.
We will hasten to prepare,
To open our souls to wonder,
To ready our hearts for freedom.