Difficult words

Haiku of offence.

Eating and drinking,

taking my life deep within;

they abide in me,

They will always live,

nor will their deeds be forgot,

alive in God’s heart.

Difficult teachings,

who can accept them? Even

disciples struggle.

From the spirit comes

true life; the flesh is useless.

Believe in my words.

Many disciples

turned back. His words were too hard,

the way was too tough.

He questioned the twelve:

Do you also wish to leave,

is it all too hard?

Where else can we go?

said Peter. Your words are life;

you have come from God.

© Ken Rookes 2018

Difficult Words Haiku

Eat my flesh, he says,

as if it’s a normal thing;

this deep mystery.

Living forever;

the reward for believers.

Is there something more?

The spirit makes life,

he told those who would listen.

The flesh, conversely.

His difficult words

drove many away. Not me;

there is no other.

The fisherman spoke

for us all. Your words are life:

where else can we go?

© Ken Rookes 2015

reassurance

The keep-your-fingers-crossed Jesus
lurks behind my fears
and offers me a sort of hope.
Believe in me, he says;
it’s a simple formula,
and I’ll help you
to get the words right.


This Jesus for the credulous
is brightly painted.
He tries to tell me
that everything that happens,
good and ill,
is part of a divine plan;
just keep smiling.


Always there when a safe passage
is needed, he smiles benignly
with his fingers crooked.
He promises blessings
and reassurance,
forgives at the drop of a hat,
and is never outraged.


Sometimes, in the screaming of the night,
I glimpse a different Jesus.
Less pretty, he is wild
like the man in the story
and more than slightly dangerous.
He carries pain in his face,
anger in his voice,


and love in his calloused hands.
This Jesus brings little
that might resemble comfort,
yet still speaks strangely of hope.
He offers no seat in paradise,
just a worrying invitation
to walk his way.


© Ken Rookes 2013