It is the Hebrew month of Adar and my

happiness is getting bigger.

That’s not meant to sound dirty.

It’s a traditional tradition, as old as Purim itself

as old as eating cookies shaped like human ears

as old as wearing Venetian masks

I think Purim is where Mardi Gras got the idea.

As Purim approaches, our happiness gets bigger.

On this day we march down the Bourbon Streets

of our lives, imbibing whatever it takes

to blur the lines between what’s wrong and what’s right.

(or what’s left if you’re feeling politically charged)

Hoping, no mandated, to see how close we are

to evil, and still land on the good side of the line.

I have to be honest, when I first heard the word

Megillah, I was disappointed to find out it didn’t

have anything to do with Gorillas. The cartoon of

my youth informing my understanding of Jewish History.

I’d always wanted a monkey of any kind and to

find out Purim only led to a cookie, was a tragedy

of King Kongian proportions. It was like someone

was saying Haman to me as loud as they could

next to my ear which I’m lucky enough to

still have attached. And can we all just agree,

There should be a much higher proportion of

chocolate Hamentaschen? (no offense fruit)

This is all getting a bit silly, but that’s Purim.

Straddling the line between good and evil.

A dizzying balance to maintain. I’m standing

on one foot. Hoping the other one lands

in a respectable location. My happiness is

getting bigger. I’d draw you a picture, but

I’m out of time.

Los Angeles poet Rick Lupert created a the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 20 collections of poetry, including “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “Donut Famine” (Rothco Press, December 2016) and edited the anthologies “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.