clcouch123

(x = space)

x

x

heat shield

x

the bottom part of spaceships

burning through the atmosphere

like the bush

without consumption

(hopeful)

saving those inside

to land

and tell the story

x

frost over winter’s

sleeping seeds

the surface or the ocean’s

skin of condensation

human skin that

tries to keep intact

all that’s coursing beneath

x

shields

under which

we live

and move

and have our being

x

and faith in these

like faith in God

forgotten in the moments

of the living

calculating rescue

modulating pleasure

coming home

when tired

x

created

put-up

somehow provided

the ozone that we shake

the atoms that we split

inside lead-and-concrete structures

while we are cognizant

and hopeful

for what’s happening inside

x

we need these

we forget them

sometimes late

we recall the need

for maintenance

small

seasonal

or cosmic

x

sometimes

like a cloud

to touch

should one be

unprepared

one thing covers another

a parent’s arm or

a friend’s for a friend’s

x

whether cloud

or branch

or wing

or human flesh

don’t doubt

there’s love in there

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by Frank Zhang on Unsplash

(caption presumably by Frank) This is the bottom of the space shuttle Endeavour, which currently sits at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. I noticed the patterning on the bottom of the shuttle, probably the heat shield.

(note by me—looks like its own via dolorosa)

x