Proof for Faith, There Isn’t Any
(then Quo vadis?)
Proof
You want proof
There isn’t any
Maybe in the nautilus
Contemplative-minded people
Seem to like the spiral
Turning and arching toward
Infinity
Lately, I’ve been looking at
Where the spiral’s going
When the photograph is stairs and not
A shell
Often, there’s a black space on
The image
Mystery, an unknown place of
Arrival, I imagine
Sometimes, the square is light
But also undefined
Then there are creative renderings
Steps made of windows,
Graphically
Sometimes of stained glass
Where are we going? all the frames
Of any kind seem
To say
Quo vadis?
I suppose there is in indication
Typically
We are traveling up
Though shift a little, maybe
Going down
Perhaps there is no depth or height
And we are moving in
Into something
On to something
Maybe something good
We don’t know
The final patch is indeterminate
The question, then, remains
Not of proof
But of starting
C L Couch
Photo by Sven Read on Unsplash
This is a staircase in a public building in Munich, Germany. It looks quite amazing from the bottom.
clcouch123 
September 19, 2019 at 11:57 pm
Reblogged this on Mandibelle16 and commented:
I enjoyed this a lot Christopher. That sense of the unknown and that leap of belief and trust faith takes along with belief in Heaven and the after life. Your poem very well says how eternity or the afterlife is likely something we don’t we’ll understand and the more we try, the more confusing and whirling our sense or rightness or direction gets. I think you point out that this is how it’s supposed to be. That the next life is a better we can’t fathom b/c of how earth and humans are now. This sense of confusion and ambivalence really comes through along with thoughts of certain paintings and Picasso type art. Perhaps too. . . No time at all, the wilting of clocks, as well as the references you make. Wonderful.
September 19, 2019 at 11:59 pm
enjoyed this a lot Christopher. That sense of the unknown and that leap of belief and trust faith takes along with belief in Heaven and the after life. Your poem very well says how eternity or the afterlife is likely something we don’t we’ll understand and the more we try, the more confusing and whirling our sense or rightness or direction gets. I think you point out that this is how it’s supposed to be. That the next life is a better we can’t fathom b/c of how earth and humans are now. This sense of confusion and ambivalence really comes through along with thoughts of certain paintings and Picasso type art. Perhaps too. . . No time at all, the wilting of clocks, as well as the references you make. Wonderful.
September 20, 2019 at 8:50 pm
Thank you, Amanda! The thoughtfulness in your response is terrific. And humbling. Yes, I do think we really don’t get what’s coming next because can’t. Is there evidence of faith? The best evidence is that of “things unseen.” What? And I think you’re right to note that we get confused and (thus) ambivalent, too. It has to be all right this way, though when we want certainty, we’re going to be frustrated.
I hope you are very well. Happy autumn in a few days!