Another Freud poem

Freudian Sisters

Violin music drifts on the air
as Yente strolls with an old bald man in her purse.
Mamma says that if you want hair, marry a monkey.
But we’re hoping that Yente trips and dies
because the thought of that forty year old
underneath the sheets with me at night
is not kosher. I want a better match than that.

---

Tzeitel grew up with a man destined to stitch
and sew for the rest of his life. Tzeitel and Motel
gave each other a pledge. Unheard of.
They gave each other a pledge. Unthinkable.
They kept it quiet, even as Mama and Yente conspired
to wed Tzeitel to that bear of a man named Wolf.

As Pappa spread the news and Mazal Tov
swept our house, Tzeitel and Motel double-teamed Papa.
From behind the door I heard Pappa yelling,
Then who is it? Who is the match for Tzeitel?
Motel quaked like he stood before a pillar of fire.
Who is it? Who is it? It’s me.
More yelling.
Even a poor tailor is entitled to some measure of happiness!
And then we planned their wedding.

---

Hodel loved a revolutionary.
That’s not as respectable as Tzeitel’s tailor.
Revolutionaries don’t have sowing machines.
Revolutionaries have alternate interpretations
of the Good Book, and dances from Kiev,
and pretentious brown eyes not afraid to stare down
the Rabbi. Pappa said that Perchik was crazy
for hating wealth. Pappa came around
when Hodel and Perchik informed
him about their engagement.
They decided without parents,
without a matchmaker
But then again,
Did Adam and Eve have a matchmaker?
Yes they did, the same one as Hodel and Percik.
Then Pappa said goodbye at the train station.
Pappa, God only knows when we shall meet again.
She fell into his chest and his arms wrapped around her.
Then we shall leave it in His hands.

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This poem was inspired by the movie The Fiddler on the Roof. I highly recomend it.