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Month

September 2022

transept

(x = space)

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transept

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and what presses in from outside

the church

the light of day

human noise

the natural world

the word of God

that says open the doors

and let me in

let those come too

under my arms

my coat or cloak or umbrella

those who are also

under my care

Ignorance and Want

and many others

ignorant of allegory

needing shelter and recognition

these are people

these are my creation too

let us in

then let us out

bearing what you may provide

what you have here

for their good

and mine

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c l couch

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photo by Bcny on Unsplash

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2

The Awful Day

(x = space)

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The Awful Day

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A strategic

Maybe a cosmic

Joke

For terrorists to play

On us,

Choosing the day that means

Emergency

x

This year

The President is at the Pentagon

The Vice President is in New York

x

I was teaching then

And only understood in parts

I heard a part

And drove to work

Entered the classroom

The TV was on

x

Then the sorting-out began

With news,

With

People we knew who might have been there

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C L Couch

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Photo by Julien Maculan on Unsplash

Downtown Manhattan view from Brooklyn on September 11, 2001

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Time and Again

(x = space)

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Time and Again

(for J. R. R. T. in the birthday month)

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Sometimes

We know it’s happening

Far away

By powerful people

National leaders

Soldiers with weapons firing

Or

A catastrophe

That has not befallen us

Specifically

And like parades

We know they and these are passing by

x

Sometimes it’s here

Still not for us

Our role might be

To observe

Or like the chorus

Comment on events

But this is not our stage

We are not the players

Not the principles,

At least

When there is news

We will know more

x

Sometimes it is our time

The light might be on us

Maybe not

But it is our time

The actions

And the consequences

Our place in the world

To secure

x

Perhaps I mean

The deaths of kings

(inclusive)

Then a fire in another part

Of town

Then maybe no more than

A birthday celebration

To have with grace

And thanks

x

Or maybe our time

Is more important

However to us

It seems

To the people

To the planet

To the cosmos

Believe me or not,

It could happen

x

It happened to the hobbit

Most of us are hobbits

Even without the provenance

Or wealth

(before the treasure is acquired)

Of Bagginses

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C L Couch

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Photo by Look Up Look Down Photography on Unsplash

Hobbiton, Mata Mata, New Zealand

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4

From the Margin to the Center

(x = space)

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From the Margin to the Center

(Charles III)

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He said it in his speech

Bring the marginal

To the center

They might need rides

And smart, official people left behind

To assess the situation

x

They need to come

Angry, surly

Cynical and hopeful

Their pain needs to be understood

Not so much talked about

x

They’ll need a promise

Not assurances

The weight of a contract

And a moral contract

As if made with the ground

The promisers are standing on

x

God help the British king

To bring back

The table round

And a belief of might for right

As classically expressed

Though contemporary lived

Policy

And money

Where they matter

x

England is still post-war

And inside war

And must be ready still for another

But all the lonely people

Isolated like the wanderer

In an ice age that was once the north

Of need,

The people need companionship

And energy

Ways to live feasibly

As an island nation

As the English,

Each one

And together

x

Don’t talk

(anyone)

So much next time

As act

God save the king

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C L Couch

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Photo by Anna Dziubinska on Unsplash

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2

Welcome Home, Elizabeth

(x = space)

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Welcome Home, Elizabeth

x

You are the queen I’ve known

Since the beginning

As far as queens are needed

You were a good one,

I suppose

The diatribes against the royals

The subject of satires

The troubles throughout empire

And empire itself

x

You weathered like your namesakes

And your name become namesake

And were a person, too

The richest one

And with responsibilities

Some were known

In florid style

Cavalry and plumes

Other deeds and institutions,

Even

Remain unknown to most of us

Except the benefacting

And the benefacted

x

I’m sorry that you’re gone

I suppose there’s time

For the son

And then more sons

And when shall be a queen again?

And will she be Elizabeth

For all the virtues and the flaws

Of first and second?

The queen is dead;

Long live the subjunctive queen

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C L Couch

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Photo by Jack Lucas Smith on Unsplash

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3

Hear the Sky

(x = space)

x

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Hear the Sky

x

Today the sky is talking through

The rain,

Discussing how to wash the

Earth

Tonight the sky

Might be humming a humid tune

About solace, anyway, and rest

x

The sky can sing

Through brightened colors

The rainbow, yes,

But don’t forget the message

In the blue,

Beauty that is not owned

By anyone

That doesn’t care for borders

But flies over them

Unchallenged

x

The sky is its own master

We can hear that anytime

It will speak its blessings

Or admonishments

Maybe we should listen

And respect

And offer messages of harmony

Ourselves

x

Does the sky hear us?

It may have heard

It might hear again

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C L Couch

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Sunset in Vancouver

Photo by Ferdinand Stöhr on Unsplash

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The Two-Day Turn

(x = space)

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The Two-Day Turn

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Today is the day

After Labor Day

And the start of school

As God intended

The god of summer

And the god of learning

Negotiate

And merge

And tilt the seasons

So that the picnic on the holiday

Is sweet and sweeter

With only a bit

Like a zest in soup or cake

Of disappointment

x

And with the bittersweet

We sleep inside the hours

Of the change

Waking up to fall term

With excitement

Now with the zest

Of jitters

x

So the seasons’ wizened-wise divinities allow

So I think

They prefer

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C L Couch

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Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash x

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Kieran Levi

(x = space)

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Kieran Levi

(petition)

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He has been wonderfully named

Kieran for his Irish father

Levi for his Jewish mother

But he has gotten sick

With a respiratory disease we are told

Is severe and contagious

Over the weekend, his temperature dropped

From 102 to 99,

Which is something

My brother, his grandfather

Sent us a message with a photograph of

An infant surrounded by machines

If you have a moment and don’t mind,

Please pray for Kieran Levi

Birth might be traumatic

And three months is just a start

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C L Couch

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Photo by Yoksel 🌿 Zok on Unsplash

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1

The Valley of Weeping

(x = space)

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The Valley of Weeping

(Psalm 84)

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Loss

Patience with loss

Endurance

Not only keeping faith

But using it

While I might not know your suffering

God does

And God loves you for it

And will go with you through

Valleys of shadows

‘Til shadows encounter shade

A comfort in the desert,

An unknown place of suffering

Become familiar

Not in which to dwell

But through which

To cool our sight

Our sense

To know the way

To leave

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C L Couch

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Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash

[story that came with photograph—I think it’s apropos]

We were looking to capture a foggy sunrise view of Half-Dome in Yosemite, but the weather wasn’t cooperating with us. The fog that did show up was low-lying and moving quickly through the trees like a ghostly river meandering through the canyon, swirling around the tallest trees in small eddies. Like too many forests, the valley is infested with borers, which has killed thousands of trees. The splash of golden trees mixed with the green is actually really beautiful, but a sad reminder of how fragile the forest is.

Yosemite Valley, United States

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