Gerasene contry

Haiku for crazy people

Gerasene country:

among the tombs and the swine,

the broken man roams.

Naked to the world,

cut off from society

he is in torment.

With shackles and chains

they have tried to restrain him.

The man is too strong.

When Jesus arrives

Legion comes to confront him,

bringing his demons.

Whether it’s demons,

mental illness, brain damage;

he still needs healing.

The swine dash headlong

into the lake, carrying

dark spirits with them.

The towns-people came

and found the man clothed and sane,

sitting with Jesus.

Please leave us Jesus,

it’s all too much, we’re frightened!

So he departed.

Let me come with you,

the man begged. No, said Jesus,

Go, declare God’s deeds.

So the man went home

restored; to live, to love, and

to tell his story.

© Ken Rookes 2019

The pigs were drowned

the pigs were drowned




In the shadowy depths
of the lake at Gerasa
the demons lie imprisoned
in the decomposing carcasses
of a herd of swine.
Gone is their host of many years,
the man known as Legion,
having returned home, clothed
unchained, and in his right mind.
There he declares
the wonders of God,
and attempts to resume his life;
the sideways glances remain.

Sometimes a new herd of pigs
forages among the tombs
and the rusty shackles, discarded
on the eastern shore at Gerasa.
The swineherds, for fear,
try to drive them away.
They do not trust the bubbling gasses,
which, at intervals,
the lake releases
from its gloomy bed.

Gone, too, is the prophet
who gave the man his freedom
and caused the commotion.
He was not made welcome.

© Ken Rookes

The pigs were drowned

the pigs were drowned
In the shadowy depths
of the lake at Gerasa
the demons lie imprisoned
in the decomposing carcasses
of a herd of swine.

Gone is their host of many years,
the man known as Legion,
having returned home, clothed
unchained, and in his right mind.
There he declares
the wonders of God,
and attempts to resume his life;
the sideways glances remain.

Sometimes a new herd of pigs
forages among the tombs
and the rusty shackles, discarded
on the eastern shore at Gerasa.
The swineherds, for fear,
try to drive them away.
They do not trust the bubbling gasses,
which, at intervals,
the lake releases
from its gloomy bed.

Gone, too, is the prophet
who gave the man his freedom
and caused the commotion.
He was not made welcome.