No laughing matter

Haiku of unexpected fecundity

There, at Mamre’s oaks

Abraham met three strangers;

he made them welcome.

Hospitality:

bread, cheeese and a barbecue;

the men were grateful.

She will have a son,

Sarah, your wife. Hearing this,

the old woman laughed.

Shall we have pleasure;

is life in these old bodies?

(The young don’t think so!)

Why did Sarah laugh?

God wants to know. There’s nothing

too tricky for God!

The thing came to pass

as the Lord had promised them:

Isaac, laughing boy.

Sarah was most pleased;

God has brought laughter to me,

laugh out loud with me!

Abraham, Sarah;

hard to believe such old folk

could become parents!

© Ken Rookes 2023

Laughing Boy

Haiku of surprise

Back in ancient times

God wandered with some angels,

met with Abraham.

At Abraham’s tent

the Lord was welcomed with cakes,

yoghurt, milk and veal.

The childless couple,

long past it, would have a child,

the strangers promised.

Sarah overheard,

listening near the entrance;

she laughed at the thought.

The promise mocks her.

Her childlessness is failure;

laughter hides her pain.

The impossible

is made possible, with God;

so the story says.

Sarah does conceive.

Apparently the old folk

still knew what to do.

Laughing Boy arrives.

Lots of joy, hope, and wonder,

not to mention laughs.

© Ken Rookes 2019


Haiku in response to the Narrative lectionary.