No Habla Espanol’, But God Knows Each One: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

His name was diez/
syllables long, yet I learned/
how to pronounce it.

My Valentine’s Day Gift: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

St. Valentine was/
Roman, so I did proxy*/
work for Italians.
OR
*temple

Where Is Everyone? Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

Temple workers are/
glad I showed up so they don’t/
have to fold laundry.

Why I Didn’t Go To The Dance: Revolutionary ImproVerse Rhyming Haiku

Some dance or romance/
late. That’s great. I’m learning to/
rise early and serve.

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Working At The Temple: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

I helped here for a/
long time. Today I got to/
work with a purpose.

His Name Was Willem And He Is Known: Revolutionary ImproVerse Free Verse Poem

His name is Willem,
not William or Wilhelm;
Dutch, not Deutsch.

Even in a region
of millions,
there was only one,
an outsider,
me,
not Dutch,
(not much!)
who came that day
to serve
Willem.

The edifice was kept open for him,
and for me.
Servants of the Lord waited on him,
and on me,
because even though
I don’t know him,
Willem Huisman,
18th Century
from Gelderland,
Dutch,
He knows him.

His name is Willem.
He with a capital H
knows his sheep.
He knows him.

Here is the back story behind this poem (I wrote a friend about it).
I went to the Chicago Temple (Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) the other day… drove 2.5 hours by myself (from central Wisconsin, not bad when you think of people who travel weeks to get to a temple!), did two sessions. The first session I took one of my own names through, and there were 4 men and 4 women in the session. VERY small session.
Then, when I finished the session, I saw that I had enough time to do another session, so asked if I could. The workers at the Temple said “Sure! Can you take this name through?” So I did. They held up the session for me (it was at noon on Tuesday), and as I got into the room, they said “Just a minute, we have to go find a Sister to join you.” I said “I’m not married”. They said “That’s fine. We’ll go get one of the Temple workers to join you.”
In other words, I WAS THE ONLY PATRON IN THE SESSION. And I felt REALLY STRONGLY the importance of “the One”. Willem Huisman, from Gelderland, Netherlands. SO I was the man in the session. An older married sister, a Temple worker, was also in the Session. Then, for the prayer, 6 temple workers came in to join us. I cried when they came in, thinking “Wow. This is REALLY important! This is really about “The One”.” When the prayer was done, the workers left.
SO I have now been in the SMALLEST temple session possible. Me as the only patron. Wow.

Prevent Invasion Of The Sacred: Revolutionary ConTEXTing Haiku

How do you protect/
the Sacred from the /
invasion of the routine?

Calling Her Early: Revolutionary ConTEXTing Haiku

She was called before/
the world was to serve and help/
individuals.

Start Now To Serve: Revolutionary ConTEXTing Haiku

I have been selfish/
and lazy, but I can start/
now to better serve.

Utah Valley Priorities: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

Want to have no crowds/
doing temple work? Go when/
BYU’s playing!
OR
Want to do temple/
work with no crowds? Attend/
when BYU’s playing!
Based on a text from a friend of mine who went to a Utah valley LDS Temple during the BYU/Nebraska football season opener, 2015: “There was nobody there!”