When you’re traveling for a simcha
You pack your pretty dresses
Maybe a new lipstick
How many pairs of shoes do I need?
Will these heels hurt my feet?
When you’re traveling for a simcha
Kiss, kiss, hug, hug
“You look ahhh-maaazing!
Tell me, are you allowed any carbs on your plan?”
When you’re traveling for a simcha
You might give what you’d like to receive
Be it cash in an envelope
Or a gift certificate to Amazon.com
Either way, they say “Thanks!”
(How did you know we like cash?)
When you’re traveling for a simcha
You’re light and free
Even when the flight is delayed
Or cancelled
(Hey, you can always hop aboard a Megabus)
When you’re traveling for a simcha
Simcha is where it’s at
The plane or bus or car
Glides along
Whistling the carefree tune
Of traveling for a simcha
When you’re traveling, and it’s not a simcha
Your carry-on holds rocks
Lipstick might not happen
Shoes? Yeah, whatever
When you’re traveling, and it’s not a simcha
Kiss, kiss, hug, hug
People mill about, concerned
“Is there anything we can do?”
When you’re traveling, and it’s not a simcha
You might give what you hope to never receive
You hear yourself negotiating
A cosmic bargain
G-d, please let me see the merit in Your tests
When you’re traveling, and it’s not a simcha
You’re heavy, in shackles
Even when the flight is delayed
Or cancelled
Megabus hurls you forward
Your prayers and tears
Traveling upward
Dark thunder clouds overhead
When you’re traveling, and it’s not a simcha
Our passports share tales of travels and travails
This trip–happy! fun! marvelous!
This one—wrenching, difficult, dark!
The journey, a multi-layered tapestry
Of tribulations, triumphs, trials
No suitcase quite like the other
And we never travel alone.
