Myrrh on the Mountains: 33 Haiku

Myrrh on the Mountains:

33 Haiku

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1
Plunge swiftly, pure sword,
straight into my stony heart,
and claim your kingdom.

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2
Rainbow of promise:
judgment is hope, viewed through the
prism of God’s love.

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3
Twelve foundation stones,
eternally set in place,
vibrating with love.

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4
You fit me: white gloves
touching another’s teardrops;
I feel with your heart.

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5
Alabaster box~
translucent heart broken, love
spilled out in worship.

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6
Purple tears falling:
incense of wisteria
praying for the rain.

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7
Monarch butterfly
worships the Creator with
wings: spirit and truth.

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8
Pearls– priceless beauty,
one by one bought and given–
necklace of wisdom.

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9
Seven eyes see my
seven kinds of emptiness:
fill me with your light!

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10
Messenger of fire–
the angel touched me, and my
strength burst into flames.

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11
Eagle soars and sees,
nests in the heights, breathes the free
fresh air of heaven.

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12
Dove and voice sealed it:
You bowed under the water;
My filth went with you.

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13
"Lazarus, come out!
I desire to laugh with you,
and share some supper!"

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14
Covenant in blood,
the almond branch that budded,
ark’s hidden manna.

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15
"You overcame me–
with your eyes and with your fierce
commitment to love."

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16
Zeal for your house burns,
consumes all death and darkness;
fears go up in smoke.

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17
Single candle burns,
radiant with fragrant light
of two lives exchanged.

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18
The trees of the Lord
run with sap, giving sweetness
to the one who wounds.

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19
Blue eyes gaze, wonder
full of love, expounding on
the meaning of blue.

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20
Overcome by love–
the weight of glory given
in a little kiss!

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21
O, for ears to hear
the pulse of the Morning Star,
the heart of my God!

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22
No one but the child
has hands empty enough to
receive the Kingdom.

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23
Maple leaf floating
down the river rapids won’t
fret about the falls.

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24
Prophets, priests and kings
wanted the Pearl of Pearls, but
You gave it to babes.

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25
Christ in us, dawning,
growing brighter and brighter--
the hope of full Day.

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26
"How can I bless You?"
"Your music, not the angels’,
is My heart’s delight."

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27
Straight the snow geese fly,
their lifeline encircled by
the sky’s soft embrace.

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28
Forever begins
with You; I touch the light that
makes time obsolete.

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29
Father’s love guards, with
flaming sword, the Tree of Life
until it saves us.

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30
With every command
comes the faith to obey it.
Doors come with a key.

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31
Cast down the darkness
From the seven high mountains–
restore the glory.

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32
Lily in the thorns–
I cannot have your passion
without sacrifice.

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33
The last enemy,
death– trampled by His Body,
put under His feet.

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Haiku by Karen Gladys Henry ©2009

"Indebted Only to Love" is a photomontage by Karen Gladys Henry ©2008

Signs

Signs

Bloody moon
Ancient rune
Sunspots’ shadow spreading
Talking sky
Telling why
Breakneck speed’s so dreading

Starfall spite
Sting and bite
Bitter wormwood’s cancer
Blackened waves
Sunken graves
Curses for an answer

Earth’s blood cries
Altar sighs
Virgins heavy-laden
Bushes burn
Green and stern
Desert blooms, a maiden

Meat and bread
Raven-fed
Rivers in the quarry
Fire and snow
Him they know
Translucent wombs of glory

Trumpets blast
Seals unfast
Poured the bowls seven
Tumbles she
Mystery
Mountain falls
From heaven

Karen Gladys Henry ©2005
"Signs" is a photo montage/collage by
Karen Gladys Henry ©2009

Inside The Box

Inside the Box

From the outside
It looked like dowdy
Not at all unusual
Gray cardboard
But you said it was
Special, just for me
Not impressed, I
Puzzled about
Your strangeness
Yet, intrigued
I finally got in
Trusting you just
Not wanting restrictions
Or lack of oxygen
Enough to risk it

What a surprise
That was even more
Mind-bending
Than expected or
Imagined
Even from you
Inside bigger
Than outside
Vistas of grandeur
Breathtaking beauty
You must have tried
Really hard to make
It just what I wanted
No cramping at all
Yes, what a surprise

I keep finding, though
Another smaller box
Just as plain and normal
Looking as boxy as I
Would expect a box to
Be, but knowing you,
I’ll go in to even huger
Territory. How do You
Do this, anyway?
Dumb question, I guess
Considering who
I’m asking. This one
Looks too small
To even cram my big
Toe into. But here goes–

by Karen Gladys Henry © 2006

"Inside The Box" illustration by Karen Gladys Henry © 2009

my photos of the Blue Ridge Mountains and crotchet lace, plus:

http://www.dreamstime.com/gift-box-rimage6943119-resi122770

Converseven

Click the image to read the poem larger.

Call of the Bride

Call of the Bride

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Beneath the white silk damask sky

She waits, breathlessly–
Her heart pounding as she gazes

Through an open door in heaven,
Her foot upon the silver sea with mirrored clouds amounding.
Hidden fish graze, silent, as a rose blush

Gently spreads upon His fragrant breath,
Deepening the red glow within the thunderheads.
Horns of light break through from the

Blinding brilliance of His anteroom,
Carrying warmth into the chilly spring.

She dips her satin slipper in, making ripples
That urge out into the vastness with a ever-increasing plea:

"Come quickly for me, my Love".
Wisteria vine shakes free its husky scent,

And the veil that hides the woman’s face blows back,
Revealing tears that flow in rivulets

Along the contours of her cheeks,

Blanched at His thunder.
Her breastbone resonates with fear and trembling

That take her, echo through her, shake her.

She leans against the gnarled oak, guard of the shore,

For generations unspeaking;
And as her reddening ear presses hard against the bark,

She hears its wizened voice–
Deep and groaning like ancient branches in a tempest:

"I am waiting for you."
And in it she hears the cry of the Groom,

The cry of creation, the cry of the unborn,
The cry of the seers, the cry of the martyrs,

The cry of heaven to make all things new.

Then a wail, long and terrible,

Called out from the depths of her being by the cries of the ages,
Swirls with crimson and gold and cobalt and emerald

To stir the four winds of heaven,
As the curtain of her heart is rent in twain

With a sound like the rending of the sky.

The woman falls to the ground weeping into the moss.

The angels watch hushed, awestruck,

Wondering, pondering the cross that the Bride and Groom share.

Fog rolls in from the silver sea,
Luminous, voluminous, redolent with frankincense and myrrh;

Hope rolls in, billows in, envelopes her.
Silence looms for half an hour until flecks of fire

Begin to sparkle down her spine,
Down the tendrils of her hair, down the long length of her legs,

Down her fingers in the moss.

And little streams of fire trickle into the deep green moss,

Across the garden paths, out into the silver sea,

Until the world glitters with the fire

Of her passionate love for her Groom.

Then she rises, slowly at first,

Gracefully stretching up onto toetips,

And commences a winsome dance
In her white linen gown~ fine as gossamer,

Embroidered by unseen wisdoms~

Spinning faster and faster,
Like a whirlwind from Eden,

Until all the winds of the earth and sky

Are pulled into her dance.
A golden glory grows ever brighter

And more magnificent around her,

Her adoration beautifying her
Beyond all the treasures of the world of man.

Transported by pure joy into the very Throneroom of heaven,
She falls at His feet in wonderment and wordless worship.

Then the Bridegroom smiles,

And the smile lingers like a summer sunset.

Ripe figs drop to the earth.
Calves drop, and foals drop,

And fawns drop and lambs drop

As the earth replies in fruitfulness of joy.

The earth yields up all its crops, glorying in the sunshine

Of the Groom’s smile. And the reapers come,
Wielding their mighty sickles,

Gathering up the golden, sun-ripened grain

Into the storehouses of heaven.

Then He takes up His sword,

His magnificent two-edged sword~

Sharper than sharpness~ and splits the sky.
He splits the mountains, and He splits the sea,

And He sunders the heavens in twain.
Stars fall like an autumn rain.

He splits the atoms in rock and air,

Fire consuming all the visible realm.

And His voice– like an orchestra of trumpets,

Like unfathomable waters

Crashing on immeasurable shores,

Like the rumblings of the seven holy thunders,

Like the applause of all the universe–

Cries out to the Bride:

Arise!

*

Karen Gladys Henry, circa 2006

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