7 Haiku for Parsha Ki Tavo (in which God and the Jewish people ‘make it official’) by Rick Lupert

I
Wheat, barley, dates, figs
grapes, pomegranates, olives –
The first ones are God’s

II
Tithes is a word that
makes me feel like I should go
and see a dentist

III
God and the Jewish
people make it official
like sweet Valentines

IV
All that we have done
and all we’ll do – carved on stones
pulled from a river

V
We shout blessings and
curses to two mountains – What
did they ever do?

VI
For the love of God
please don’t curse my kneading bowl
I’ll follow the rules

VII
Gifts – A heart to know,
eyes to see, and ears to hear
Creation goes on

Los Angeles poet Rick Lupert created the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 21 collections of poetry, including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion“, “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “Donut Famine” (Rothco Press, December 2016) and edited the anthologies “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.