Lines
the headline is
Nigeria mosque targeted
in suicide bomb attack
the ones with bombs were
women, one woman
inside, one woman outside
to catch those fleeing
from the first
two Muslims targeting
their own, killing and
wounding many
like the group at the
Christian church in South
Carolina, studying the
Bible when one’s own
opened fire
and, like Bible study, the
faithful at the mosque
(outskirts of Maiduguri)
were worshiping in prayer
C L Couch
(source Al Jazeera on 16 March)
Uber Man
Nietzsche misapplied
He is insane certainly
Though for the dead
That is no excuse
Merging of A-I with
Devilry (all tragic kinds)
Mythos and job
Conditions
Mindset foundation
Made of broken parts
And images, like
Rock upheaval when
Nature breaks in anger
Or remorse upon the
Earth
The driving’s done
Next civil movements
Decide and, at the
Last, enact
Salve released into
Chasms
Human libation
Offered in the cup
Divine participation
Hoped
C L Couch
eccentric impoverishment
I believe in odd things
in the creeping things of scripture
in the texture of flower petals
that hold the elixir of hope
for nature
in that which doesn’t last but
really does
kind encounters with strangers
(kind when strangers encount-
with me)
joy in small things
joy even on a day that’s dim
with unlined sky
for creative impossibilities
the world doesn’t value the
arcane
things or my eccentric way of
loving them
so how am I to live
in response
I do not know is first
with fear closely behind
how do I live for real I mean
how does a world set so differently
(or I so differently to it) agree
and arrange to pay for who I am
and what I do and how
how do I find my way with
only colors in the corners
if I must direct myself toward
a blander needle point
but I need the life of hope in
creativity with the world
who salaries that
who pays me
for that artful amorphous
life
Lost World
A borough in
Western Pennsylvania
(towns are called
Boroughs) that
Died when steel died
And, unlike the city
Close by (that is only
Called a city),
There was no
Rising up,
No Easter-kind
Experience
Anything that might
Be beautiful is old
From the time
When beauty
Could be afforded
The bones of
Some buildings are
Strong, while
Others stand ready
To fall over
With a sigh
Children attend
A consolidated
School in the area,
Learning to
Leave already
The bar owner
Can’t afford it
But must have
The place
Open anyway
For where else
Can one
Drink hope
Persistence alone
Without substance
Keeps life
Psalm 32
a song when we are done
Lord, I’ve lost it all
Age and youth
Health and wealth
Whatever I possessed
Is no longer in my
Hands
I wagered life
And sometimes won
Gained much, gave it away
Squandered some
As we are likely to do
Here I am, and there
You are
We draw closer all the
Time
With all that
I no longer have
Do you still love me,
Lord?
The mystics’ reply is
Yes, always
Yes from the Lord
Land of the Free
Sometimes
It’s hard to know
What to perceive
As real
It’s a hard time
To be alive,
Though it’s good, too
Welcome home,
She called to her
Spaniel charges
Here they will
Have home
Tired Monday mornings
Notwithstanding
Or lulls in movement
Or going through
The harder times of life,
Home will be here
For small angels
Unaware
(from good news by
Stray Coffee Breaks,
https://straycoffee.wordpress.com/,
Charles and Thaddeus)
Pittsburgh Last Night
Pittsburgh where I grew up
Five persons killed by two others
Using guns for the sole purpose
Of murder
The victims
Hoping without conscious
Thought to take part in the
Open—a backyard festivity
Homiest of parties
Home belief destroyed
Celebration as a cause
Never believed in again
Debates will go on
Who cares
The sides were answered
Yesterday
Talk is over when bullets
Tear through people
Debate done
Before
In the still of day
When there is light but
Otherwise no other
Thing intrudes
Before I turn on the tube
(Yes, tube)
Or warm up the computer
Before I am reminded
What there is to do
I cease all preparations
To brake and break
(Both kinds)
With all
Rather to wonder
What might occur today,
Totally unexpected
Certainly not planned
A surprise
Delightful or disturbing
I won’t know
But I know what I’d
Choose for something
Or someone, new or
Anew, to come into
My world
International Women’s Day
Really, it’s more than us
We’re everywhere, as you know
We have to be
There is no more without us
Shouldn’t that own for us
Respect
And, if nature is not enough,
Then
Consider what we give
Professionally
We gave the X-ray
We gave a right sense of
Nationalism (think on all
The women kings remembered,
Not the kings, like men’s, we
All strive to forget)
We gave you victory in France
Revolutionary pride in the USA
Freedom-speaking around
The world—which goes on
Still: note the young woman
Receiving the Nobel
We are more than
Parenthetical—we are
Partners and princes,
Inventors and advocates
In advocacy, we support so
Much more than ourselves
We write, we preach, we
Make—we take our part with God
In co-creation
Our capacities are great
They’re great for
Pain—for ages until now
What happens next? That
Is the consequential question
To which responding
Requires all of us, unless
You wish a final rebellion
That might take out all
But probably will simply
Leave only us
And who wants that
On and in this day
C L Couch
clcouch123 
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