Gesundheit Poem by Jim Yerman

I learned acceptance early in life as my household was a little odd
My father was German Jewish…my mother Irish Catholic…
which meant they prayed to different gods.

I was exposed to both religions and the more and more I grew
when I was asked…I never knew…if I was a Catholic…or a Jew?

Whenever someone sneezed next to me…I didn't know what to do!
Should I say Gesundheit…or Shalom…or go with God bless you?

But being raised with this disparity was one of the beauties of my growth
for having two religions meant that I accepted both.

And when I went out into the world it made it easier to be
more accepting of all the other people who did not think like me.

I made friends with people whose Gods had different names,
different clothing, different hues…
whose Gods did not resemble at all the two Gods that I knew.

But having grown up with two Gods I found it easy to get along
for whose to say my Gods are right and all their Gods are wrong.

And though it's made acceptance easier
as I'm able to see how each God pleases…
It has left me now more confused than ever…
when anybody sneezes.