The crossing

Haiku for a remarkable escape.

The just-freed people

head south-east out of Egypt,

with God in cloud, fire.

The army follows,

Pharaoh’s horses, chariots;

there to take them back.

Moses stretched his hand

over the sea; a strong wind

from God drove it back.

Sea becomes dry land,

(according to the story);

the people pass through.

Egypt’s army came

after Israel. Panic

as their wheels get bogged..

God instructs Moses:

Stretch out your hand, that the sea

returns to its depth.

Israel is saved,

Egypt’s army’s swept away.

So the story ends.

The people feared God

and God’s servant, Moses; glad

God was on their side.

Again, the winners

get to rejoice, the losers

must lament and mourn.

© Ken Rookes 2023

A boy!

Haiku of survival

Time’s dust has settled,

Joseph has been forgotten.

They are guests no more.

Israel’s children

have prospered in Egypt land;

but now they are feared.

Israel’s children

are made slaves. They are oppressed,

and forced to labour.

Their lives are bitter,

they are treated brutally;

there is no relief.

Final solution

number one: kill all the boys

as soon as they’re born.

The midwives resist.

They explain: Hebrew women

don’t wait for midwives.

Throw them in the Nile,

those baby boys! But the girls,

you can let them live.

A boy-child was born.

His mother kept him hidden.

Three months. Too big now.

Made a reed basket,

floated it in the river.

His sister kept watch.

Coming down to bathe,

Pharaoh’s daughter saw the boat.

Her maid drew it in.

Surprise! It’s a boy!

You’ll need a nurse, said sister.

Can you find me one?

The mother was paid.

She nursed him. When he had grown,

took him to the court.

The princess raised him

as her son, named him Moses:

drawn from the water.

© Ken Rookes 2023

The big reveal

Haiku for siblings

We skip to the end

of the tale: the big reveal!

Joe and his brothers.

Great is the weeping!

The Egyptians, dismissed, hear

the sounds of Joe’s tears.

My father, tell me,

Joseph asks of his brothers;

is he still alive?

The brothers tremble,

knowing the wrong they have done.

What will Joseph do?

Joe draws them closer.

You sold me, but it’s all right;

the result is good.

God planned to send me

to this land to preserve life.

Now I rule it all.

Five more years of drought.

Bring your households to Goshen;

there is plenty here.

Go, tell my father,

tell him that you have seen me.

Hurry, bring him here!

They kiss and they weep;

this family reunion;

of forgiveness, grace.

© Ken Rookes 2023

Dreamy boy Joseph

Haiku of family strife

Dreamy boy Joseph,

 

flash coat setting him apart,

 

from jealous brothers.

 

They had good reason

 

to hate him. The favourite

 

dobbed his brothers in.

 

Israel sent him

 

to look in on his brothers;

 

found them near Dothan.

 

They saw him coming,

 

conspired to kill the dreamer;

 

blame wild animals.

 

Reuben intercedes.

 

Don’t kill; throw him in this pit.

 

That is what they did.

 

They stripped his flash robe

 

and put it aside. Could prove

 

useful, later on.

 

Some traders came by.

 

Better that we sell, not kill;

 

that is what they did.

 

Twenty silver coins,

 

the price of their brother; sold,

 

and bound for Egypt

 

 

© Ken Rookes 2023

 

The gospel puzzle

Haiku of resolution.

The gospel puzzle:

Jesus the Galilean,

born in Bethlehem.

Rounding his story

Matthew give us more angels

to sort the mess out.

Despotic Herod’s

plans are spoiled, the infant

retreats to safety.

The threat is given

substance in a massacre;

a lucky escape!

Acts of cruelty

abound in human affairs;

why not another?

So the family

seeks refuge, South, in Egypt.

Like their ancestors.

It falls to Joseph,

family head, provider,

to protect his child.

Micah took us to

Bethlehem for the birth, time

now for Nazareth!

The conundrum solved!

The refugee family

settles in the North.

© Ken Rookes 2019

They called out to God

Haiku for those in bondage

Time’s dust overlays

memory; generations

cause the past to lie.

Joseph is forgot

and those who once were welcomed

are made enemies.

Arriving as guests,

they multiplied, became feared,

ended up as slaves.

Crying out to God

to end their cruel suffering;

Lord, deliver us!

Fugitive Moses,

tending sheep in Midian

sees a burning bush.

As the twigs crackle

Moses hears a voice calling,

takes off his sandals.

Most disturbingly

the voice purports to be God:

I am sending you!

I hear my people,

I know their pain. You must go,

bring them from Egypt.

Demurring, Moses

protests his limitations.

This is beyond me!

Say to my people

I am has sent me to you;

My name for all time.

© Ken Rookes 2019

I will not dance with Miriam

I will not dance with Miriam,

nor sing her triumph song.

The winners have written

their history; victorious

but confronting.

Scrape away its many layers:

racism, nationalism, vengeance,

religious superiority, triumphalism,

indiscriminate killing,

no thought for the bereaved.

Not much grace,

even less forgiveness;

and the Almighty is conscripted

to justify the hatred.

It could be set in Palestine,

twenty-fourteen.

No.

I will not dance with Miriam,

nor sing her triumph song.

© Ken Rookes 2014