What difference would it have made

if my tearful Jewish Grandma

(my slightly tipsy Grandpa listing beside her)

had offered me a chance to choose

on my thirteenth birthday

and I chose to be Jewish

while the Christian other half

of my family offered me no

non-Bar Mitzphaed alternative

but let me eat cake

and I began to take to being a believer

in a Faith for which Easter

is Spring’s sacred day

and Passover is wholly

passed over as a worship choice for me?

What difference?

Well, none.

For since we are all living in eternity already,

and the God I’ve come to know offers

wide-open-pearly-gates

to stroll through,

and back and through

and back again,

as I choose to enjoy

the pleasures of forever at my leisure,

to take my time to pick

whatever celestial treasure

catches my eye

and later,

say, 144,007 years later,

CHANGE MY MIND AGAIN!!!

To select a new favorite in heaven,

(maybe this time some crystal-quartz meteor

to zoom on through the unending cosmos….)

for a time,

say, a million centuries,!

For Heaven, by definition,

offers more than enough options

and an eternity to enjoy

another piece of eternal peace

whenever I feel the need!

So,

stop crying Grandma!

If there’s a kitchen in Heaven

with a new gas stove,

you’ll bake potato knish and a chicken

and order me to, “Eat! Eat!”

whether I am hungry,

or not.