It was not an easy moment,
nor was it pleasant.
I didn't like to be exhibited
like a product by a merchant.
Then I saw the client—
a man I didn't know,
whom I didn't like
and didn't want
to marry.
Yet the merchant,
devoted to his work,
forced us to meet and speak—
until we knew every part
of each other's life.
We started like
two weak magnets
both of the same pole
—slightly repelling—
then were like
metal and compass—
one pulled to the other,
fatefully drawn.
And so our souls were married,
and soon our worldly bodies
were too.
Mar 30
Mar 30, 2026 at 5:08 AM UTC
It was not an easy moment,
nor was it pleasant.
I didn't like to be exhibited
like a product by a merchant.
Then I saw the client—
a man I didn't know,
whom I didn't like
and didn't want
to marry.
Yet the merchant,
devoted to his work,
forced us to meet and speak—
until we knew every part
of each other's life.
We started like
two weak magnets
both of the same pole
—slightly repelling—
then were like
metal and compass—
one pulled to the other,
fatefully drawn.
And so our souls were married,
and soon our worldly bodies
were too.
"Shadchan" (in the Hebrew script, שַׁדְּכָן) is a word referring to a person in Jew communities who organizes marriages between two people, often done against their will (though not always). The shadchan also presents them, serves as an intermediary between families, etc.
------------
Copyright: Shattentraumer, 2026. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). Original: https://hellopoetry.com/poems/5281012/shadchan
