skip to Main Content

Per Diem Archive: C.Sterba Mar 2013, Judeo-Christian Traditions

Judeo-Christian Traditions: A haiku consideration of reverent and light-hearted themes suggesting Passover and Easter

Haiku have the ability to stir our poetic spirits, our souls, and tickle our funny bones. The following 31 haiku represent the simple and profound in Jewish and Christian traditions, including songs. 

During Passover/Pesach, the historical memory of overcoming slavery is celebrated. The Passover song “Dayenu” will remind believers of their gratefulness for the time Jewish people were freed from slavery, given the Torah, and the Shabbat. This song’s refrain is, “It is sufficient.” 

For other believers, the words of “Amazing Grace” will recall personal memories, thanks to the old sea captain, John Newton, who gave up the monstrosity of running slave ships, was transformed by his belief, and wrote the most famous of English hymns with these words, “I was lost and now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”

[back]
Author: Scott Mason
     amazing grace
the plainest cuttings
      the loveliest
Author: Aubrie Cox Warner
baptism song
a turtle slips
into the river
Author: Cherie Hunter Day
communion wafer
in my open hand—
the fragrance of lilies
Author: Susan Delphine Delaney
rolling up his sleeves,
the monk prepares
to read the gospel
Author: Ellen Grace Olinger
reading the Psalms path to the water
Author: Johnny Baranski
Epiphany
all that I long for
in one star
Author: 'Haiku Elvis' (Carlos Colón)
Lord's Prayer
a slight tremor
in my father's hand
Author: Susan Delphine Delaney
broken for you
the snap of the host
in my palm
Author: Michael Nickels-Wisdom
raspberry paczki--
from one day to the next
this sinner’s heart
Author: Alexis K. Rotella
For Lent
giving up
lentils
Author: Nick Virgilio
my palsied mother,
pressing my forehead on hers
this Ash Wednesday
Author: Tony Virgilio
Easter morning
the new-born turtles
race to the sea
Author: Bette Norcross Wappner
outdoor service
the sun's reflection
on the bread plate
Author: Aubrie Cox Warner
Easter sunrise
tarnished cross
in my jewelry box
Author: Victor P. Gendrano
a white rose blooms 
through the broken fence
Easter morning
Author: Akito Arima
Easter:
at the priest's waist
so many keys
Author: Jim Kacian
church bells —
the rabbi wakes
for fishing
Author: J. Andrew Lockhart
hiding eggs
in the backyard-
stone rolls aside
Author: Raymond Roseliep
the firefly you caught
lights the church you make
with your hands
Author: Charles Trumbull
no buds yet
but colored eggs hang
from the tulip tree
Author: Bette Norcross Wappner
Easter Eve
our campfire rises
to the stars
 
Author: Cherie Hunter Day
Lord’s Supper my heartbeat in the wine
Author: Johnny Baranski
Palm Sunday
the cherry blossoms
have yet to fall
Author: 'Haiku Elvis' (Carlos Colón)
Palm Sunday
the sound of a frond
ripping
Author: Rick Black
laundry line
prayer shawls dovaning in
the spring breeze
Author: David Grayson
dabbing the wine
onto the Seder plate
the sweetness on my finger
Author: Karen Klein
family Seder
kids can-can to Dayeinu …
dayeinu
Author: Bruce H. Feingold
Passover seder
the candlelight flickering
in Grandmother’s silver
Author: Miriam Sagan
Making the blessing
Over the plum blossoms
Passover night
Author: Rick Black
Yad Vashem
evening silence punctuates
the sound of taps
Author: Michael Nickels-Wisdom
at dawn 
the first day of the week 
an acorn shell 
[back]
Back To Top