(x = space)
x
x
I’m Taking My Break
x
The haunting rises from
The coffee cup
When the liquid’s hot
Enough,
Aided by the air
That might be just-right cool
x
A spell upon the world
Not cast by anyone
Not by un-sentient machines
Or by any eldritch
Part
Of us
x
Like morning fog
There’s beauty in the vagueness
Indefinition
Wonder, too, as we look
Through
To the same as ever
And it’s not the same
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Ayaneshu Bhardwaj on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Yesterday’s Statistics
x
Only a few hundred died
From COVID yesterday
Only a few hundred
We must be getting better
And maybe we are
Except for the families
Friends and neighbors
Of a few hundred people
Who died from COVID
Yesterday
x
But who’s counting
The CDC is counting
WHO is counting
Sometimes it’s on the news
But even news programs
Want for ratings
Vie for them
x
One more day to help;
Live as if
x
As If
x
As if tomorrow is a question mark,
Which it is
As if love is uncertain
And life the mystery
With or without a number
As always
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Yuval Zukerman on Unsplash
x
(x = speak)
x
x
LoveSpeak
x
What does God’s love say
In the face of danger?
Through many dangers,
Toils, and snares
God’s love says
I’m here
The love is here
The source is here
The host is here
We’re here
x
Though there be anger,
Scorn, and fear
From enemies and friends
Alike
Because doubt and unbelief
Might have to have
Their way,
The love of God is first
And follows
Like the currents inside Earth
And over,
The moving pillars
Cloud or fire
That are before
And after
x
Alongside in
The truth of companionship
But I can’t see that
You can
It’s more than senses
With which we perceive
As best we can
x
Presence and love are better
They are inside
And out
They speak without words
Until it’s time for words
x
When we have ears to hear
And cannot hear,
Count on the company
Of the divine
To know us better,
Pick us up
If fallen,
Go with us onward
Leading, should we ask
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
x
“Amazing Grace” (the hymn) referenced above
x
(x = space)
x
x
The People First
(Indigenous Peoples Day)
x
Today on the
Convenience of a Monday,
We acknowledge
Indigenous Peoples Day
x
A day for dance
For songs whose lyrics
Most of us don’t know
x
Set before
Except for math in certain years
The arrival of Columbus
On a day
And on that day
First time
Complicit in
The Taino
Vanishing
x
We inveigled
Tricked
Overwhelmed
After learning to survive
Pushed the people
Pushed our teachers
And, yes, first adversaries
Onto arid land
At last
Unless a virtue be discovered there
Then moved farther on
xxxxxArtificial islands
xxxxxAre trending;
xxxxxThe people could build
xxxxxOnto the ocean
xxxxxUnless we wanted
xxxxxSomething under
x
What shall we do this day?
Not give anything back,
I’m sure
x
Feathers
Leathers
Colors
How to live with nature
When even nature’s scant
Colors of the earth
And of fauna
Movement, teaching of the seasons
Life with the Spirit,
The hand of God that pressed
The mountains
And the valleys
Plains between,
Ridges and runnels
Of the fingers
That should be
Filled with water
x
Truths of land and air,
Interesting add-ons for us
Supplements for mortal life
Maybe next year’s
Vacation
x
What is the hope
For a people pushed
And pushed off,
As if unwanted by the created world
Yet placed onto the world
First,
First people here?
x
Well, there is a day
I think better have the day
Than not
It offers balance
Maybe pain with recognition
Suffering with acknowledgement
Especially against
The time to come
In two days’ time
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Mike Newbry on Unsplash
x
I could be sorry for the we-they attitude (and I am) except it’s what we (they) have. Hope for a day to come when we can mesh and moosh the pronouns because the better unifying has happened.
x
(x = space)
x
x
The Killings in Thailand
x
They were brought
Juice and popcorn,
Dolls
Everything they’d need,
The children at the daycare center
x
But this was funereal
The children had
Died
Killed by a madman who killed
Others, too
Killed his family
Lastly, himself
x
The families brought juice and popcorn,
Dolls
Snacks and toys
To the daycare center
For the children to enjoy their day
x
Everyone had been to the temples
Then they came here
x
Come back home
Come back with us
x
The parents
Parents and the living family members
Said
Pleaded
Cried
While exuding dignity,
Respect
For everyone
x
Come back home
Come back with us
x
They were there
At the daycare
Leaving presents, organic things
Symbolic things
The children would have used
At their age
For their lives
In the daycare
x
Everyone had been to the temples
More to follow there
Now they are here
x
Come back home
Come back with us
x
They can’t;
Insanity
And criminality
Has taken them
x
Spirits
Journey
Hard
But shall be
Reunited
Wrongful death
Owns no victory
The children
Other victims
Know this now
They shouldn’t have to
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Charlotte Seo on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Nearing Full
x
The moon is yellow
The sky is blue
The clouds are silver
The stars are white
The branches have no color
Except the color
Of porch lights
x
It’s late again
The air is cool
Maybe in the fifties
Maybe forties,
Which is not so special
As a sign of autumn
In October
In these parts
But the days and nights
Have been too warm
Now the season
Is announced
x
We’ll have the chilly fall
And with the drop
To cold
At a propitious time
Beautiful leaf colors,
True
Autumn review
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Eleanor Brooke on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Wicked, You Know
x
Hello, Friday
Just after Thursday
Beyond the witching hour
By only a few
I drove back seeing lights
In front of houses
And beside
Orange and purple have been added
Fine by me
The colors of fall
Are enough
But the lights at night
Add romance with chill air
x
Reminders of ghost stories
The best kind of fear
New Englanders
(old Englanders, too)
Call wicked
Meaning good
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Will Swann on Unsplash
Blue Ridge Parkway, Canton, United States
x
(x = space)
x
x
Rocking
x
God is with me
As I tilt back and forth
Considering the day
The possibilities
Though first counting
What is real
In the atmosphere
In my awareness
As the spheres pass through
Vibrating oh, so slowly,
With the timing of creation
Slow with majesty
And an offer
To commune
And (much more) slowly get it
Then to rise
Into the day
And its new hour
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Syed Hussaini on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Shaping the Word of God
x
You know,
It didn’t come with numbers
Chapters and verses
I guess the whole thing was recited
As a book, we say
x
Then we moved on to another
The community
x
The interpreting community
Setting doctrine
As a group,
A denomination
Or on our own
Without a magisterium
x
Tricky doctrine-setters
How do they avoid a lie
In designation?
x
Maybe with the humility
Of Pietists
Or the Amish who
Set salvation as
A conditional process
We hope we’re saved
x
Meanwhile, we have
A book of books
Providing order,
Which is fine
Except when God is wild
In the wilderness,
Awaiting Moses
Beside the symbol and reality
(one comes first)
Of the burning tree
That will not consume
x
Remove your shoes,
Moses,
This is not a nine to five
This is a place above the desert
Thin blue air
For food
And doctrine from a flame
And from the words
One hears
Through the host
That is speaking
x
And if the order is to play,
Then be grateful
For bare feet
x
And we believe?
Our committees
And our meetings
All things gilt or burnished
For the Sunday best
To be best?
x
Might we go to Sinai
In a Thoreauvian way
Take all the time we need
Outside of shoes
To think it through
The bush will burn
There’s time
x
If need be,
Chronos will slip into kairos
For a while
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash
Saint Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai, Egypt
x
clcouch123 
Recent Comments