Fruits of iniquity

Haiku of shame

Amos; more judgement.

The fruits of iniquity

reveal rottenness.

Contemporary.

The rich trample the needy,

the poor are ruined.

Fundamentalists

who say they love the scriptures

ignore these verses.

Wait ‘til Sunday’s past

to get back to the business

of cheating the poor.

Buying the needy

for the price of sandals, and

the poor for silver.

Justify your greed;

decry the poor as lazy,

unblessed, unworthy.

Convince the needy

that you know what’s best for them;

they might vote for you!

The sky will be dark;

your songs will become laments

of bitter sorrow

A famine descends,

not of bread or of water,

but of hearing God.

It is upon us,

this famine of God’s good word.

Just a few will hear.

© Ken Rookes 2022

Plumb lines

Haiku for measuring up.

Plumb lines, measuring

that which is true, right and straight.

Ancient, effective.

The wall is built true.

The Lord holds a plumb line. What

do you see, Amos?

Is Israel true,

how does the land measure up

to its high calling?

They are found wanting,

Israel, chosen of God.

Judgement is severe.

Those who have received,

much is expected of them.

They, too, will be judged.

The question disturbs.

How well do I measure up,

how faithful am I?

The response:

Go away, Amos!

Your words are not welcome here.

Prophesy elsewhere!

Amos answers:

I am no prophet,

never asked for the job. God

has done this to me!

You say: Go away!

But yours are not words from God,

and you stand condemned.

© Ken Rookes 2022

The land trembles

The land trembles

The land still trembles

under terrible and insatiable burdens:

desperate urges to acquire and to accumulate

the wealth that we worship

and in which we have placed our trust.

The poor are still bought for a few pieces of silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals.

Today it happens in an overseas factory

or sweatshop for designer jeans or sports shoes;

whilst we anxiously flock to the purveyors

of all things shiny and new, lest we miss out.

Nothing ever changes

as the words of Amos the prophet

are either sanitized or avoided.

For the sake of economic and political expediency

we close our eyes and stop our ears.

We pretend that all is well with God’s world,

as we gather to ourselves

leaders with words that caress and reassure,

declaring that, in his/her benevolence,

God wants for God’s pious and faithful flock

the benefits and security of comfortable wealth,

along with all its trappings.

So it is that we self-righteously demand

cuts to our taxation, limits to our welfare

and strength to our borders;

lest the wretched, the unworthy

and the undeserving should receive anything

to which they are patently not entitled.

© Ken Rookes