Haiku for Good Friday
A haiku is a three line observation which, in English, follows the strict format:
Line 1 - five syllables
Line 2 - seven syllables
Line 3 - five syllables
Haiku originated in Japan in the ninth century but it was not until the early twentieth century that they began to be written in English.
This form of poetry, which rarely rhymes, acts like a small window into something much more expansive. Its impressionistic brevity is often contemplative, encapsulating feelings or images which require a response from the reader.
Below is a selection of haiku composed by the Author in February 2016 on the subject of Good Friday (haiku for Easter may be found here).
| Haiku 10 was selected for inclusion and discussion in the Good Friday 2016 Podcast from Things Unseen. The reading and discussion can be heard here. The full podcast can be heard here. |
1
Jesus came from God
To tell us that He loves us
We did not believe
Pilate asked Jesus
Are you the King of the Jews?
It is as you say
What is to be done?
Crucify Him came the cry
And Pilate yielded
He came to give love
We rejected his message
And killed the envoy
What anger in man
To discard the love of God
And choose instead death
God incarnate come
To cleanse our sins for ever
By dying for us
Nails through hands and feet
Agony he bore for man
Abandoned by God
How can you bear this
Torture pain and suffering?
I do it for you
Forgive them Father
My life will go on
Our saviour is gone
God made flesh destroyed by man
Where did we go wrong?
What turmoil of fear
Did cause this man to perish
Yet now we know why
© Richard Farquharson, Maulden, Bedfordshire February 2016