a haiku liturgy: poems by Chuck Miller

image by Tyler Cemmensen, on Unsplash, slightly modified

a haiku liturgy

i

Heavenly Father

shine out on us from your throne;

help us trust your will.

ii

Jesus, may your Cross

cleanse our guilt, while we walk in

your Resurrection.

iii

Holy Spirit, come;

make us more like our Savior

*

8/10/2008 #2

Take a knife from the drawer—

not a real one, a figurative one—

and cut through all that old mystical doggerel about night,

that blurry gauzy flag of the stars’ mysteries, and

go out into the night in some quiet place.

Say, after a warm day in July,

or after an inch of February snow.

Try not to pray. Try not to sense God near.              

Try to fear.        

Chuck Miller started writing poetry when he was a sophomore at Howe Military School—

not a great way to be popular in such a place! He found Christ just after graduating

from high school, and the poetry took off. He's retired now from careers as a high school English and Composition teacher, hospital chaplain, and surgical instrument tech. He's been published in, and edited, December Leaves and Green Ink magazines. His poetry

has most recently been published in Penwood Review and Time of Singing magazines. Several books of his are available on Kindle, including Broken Vial: The Jesus Poems and Every Tongue Confess: The Major Names and Titles of Jesus the Messiah. He lives in Sylvania Township, Ohio, with his wife of 52 years, Robbin, and the families of mallards

in the pond behind their house.     

(August 2026 issue)