Book Review Haiku

Do you like books? I hope you do, or you’re wasting your time on this blog. Do you like reading long book reviews? So do I. I also hate writing them.

But I’ve been meaning to delve into writing forms that I detest, and poetry is one of them. Perhaps engaging in the ancient art of haiku will help me overcome my loathing. At the very least, I don’t have to come up with new ways of explaining why I liked a book. This way, I also leave a little bit of mystery and perhaps entice you to investigate these titles.

As much as I’d love to have a slew of haiku for you to read, I don’t read that fast. In my younger years, I could keep up with six books at a time. As I got older, that number went down to… zero… but I’m climbing my way back up to six. The next time I do one of these posts, there may be three to five haiku. But a smaller number gives you more to contemplate, if that makes sense.

For the squeamish, my current tastes lean toward nonfiction, specifically in religious/spiritual studies. I’m going through a phase in my life where I want to explore belief without the meddling from corrupted, damaged, narcissistic family members—the very people who wanted me to be devout but ensured, in their own ways, that I strayed. Ironic.

Son of Man… or God?
Flesh to dust… or immortal?
No one knew then, either.

Ancient Middle East,
lousy with messiahs.
Only one endures.

Knowing God lies in
your heart; early religious
gatekeepers said, “No.”

Apocalypse, wow!
Hallucinations or truth?
Some churches clam up.

Prayers answered when
least expected, and God’s work
unfolds through us still.