As I read through the Bible this year, I am writing a nonet poem for each of its sixty-six books. 45 syllables for each of the 66 books of the Bible. These little poems are not intended to summarize these books, but simply to capture the spirit of each book, as it came to me while reading and pondering them this time around. I have previously shared my nonets for the Pentateuch, nonets for Joshua through 2 Kings, and nonets for 1 Chronicles through Esther. Here are my nonets for the next five books, Job through Song of Solomon.

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Job

The poetry of theodicy,
Exploring suffering’s meaning,
Through the eyes of a just man,
Afflicted unjustly.
Job questioned his God,
But still believed
That one day
He would
See.

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Psalms

Blessed the book that teaches us to pray,
Always and all ways, with laments,
Praise, urgent pleas, honesty,
Making an old song new.
Poetry sublime,
Inspired, divine;
Nothing more
Shall we
Want.

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Proverbs

Let the wise hear and gain knowledge through
Proverbs teaching fear of the Lord.
This is where wisdom begins –
Not through our own insight,
Or understanding,
But in trusting
The Lord with
All our
Heart.

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Ecclesiastes

All is vanity, Qoheleth says,
Nothing more than chasing the wind.
So what is our purpose here?
Without God, there is none.
But with God? We can
Eat and drink and
Be happy
In our
Toil.

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Song of Solomon

Solomon’s songs celebrating love –
Not the love of God for us, but
Love we share with each other.
Why such lovely poems
In our holy book?
To remind us:
Eat, drink, be
Drunk with
Love.