A Pickle for Purim

For this special Purim day, I searched for a theme to share,
A message, a lesson, a wrong to repair.
I was in a pickle, with no innovative or novel preparation,
Afraid this Purim would be without my usual mishloach manot creation.

But then I thought of my pickle, and decided that was it,
A pickle for Purim was a perfect fit!!
It is a wacky word, with so much to convey,
Surely pickle would help me create a special day!

You see a pickle can be a difficult situation you find yourself in,
Or it can be a delicacy, depends on your spin.
It is food in a brine that is tangy with salt,
It is the process that preserves and brings aging to a halt.

To pickle wood means to add color and warm tones,
To pickle food adds aromas that nurture our bones.
Yet pickled can also be negative, a slang word for a drunk,
On the test of life score, surely a flunk.

Pickle has the capacity for good and for bad,
And like most things depends on perception, either happy or sad.
Is the glass half empty, or is it half full?
Is a sweater really ruined if there is one little pull?

A pickle represents a challenge, often packed like a sardine,
The first of the jar hard to get out, the rest, well, you know what I mean.
The first gesture of good is often the most difficult to make,
Like the first step of baby, so scary to take.

So on this Purim day, as we all think about the pickles we are in,
Be it with friends, relatives, jobs or our souls that are within,
Remember that negative or positive is a perspective to choose,
And that we all live in glass houses, a hair breathe from win or lose.

Savor your pickled Purim treats, with the message they send,
There is but one letter difference between a fiend and a friend.
Be forgiving and kind, and pickle the goodness inside of you,
And may your brachot be many and your difficulties few.