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December 2022

Late Cancer

(x = space)

x

x

Late Cancer

(diagnosed, lived out)

x

My brother

Might have to be moved

Again

He is frustrated

Wants to be home

Before he wanted to be

Elsewhere

But elsewhere isn’t working out

I understand

The purpose of a medical setting

Is not to settle in

But to leave

When well

Stay is contraindicated

Home

As it cannot be managed

Still remains the prize

x

He’s in pain

Palliation only goes so far

Before the pain

Folds in again

He’s also frightened

I would be

I am in contemplation

Though these are his days

And shall the cancer

Diagnosed too late

A year ago

Take him to another home

Prepared

At last

To last

x

But there’s today’s pain

I don’t know how to wish

The pain to go away

Without invoking

The scary, heavenly alternative

But prayers aren’t magic

We aren’t dealing with a genie

Waiting to misstep

Our hopes

In misspoken entreaties

Heal my brother

Still

Is every prayer’s day

That might make nothing happen

‘Til the pain-releasing thing

Must happen

Tragically for us remaining

For him who suffers

Most of all

x

It is late December

I agree it is a magic season

How much amazing

Might be borrowed

From days

Of extra stars and circles

Green and all the other colors

Only for him

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Kalle Kortelainen on Unsplash

[photographer’s narrative]

A crisp afternoon around 3pm in Dalsjöfors, Sweden these incredible snowflakes appeared on the hood of our car. You can almost hear the crisp snow creaking under the soles of the winter boots by just looking at them. Pure natural magic.

Dalsjöfors, Sweden

x

3

the winter of our contretemps

(x = space)

x

x

the winter of our contretemps

x

hello winter you are

welcome on a sunny day

in a few weeks

maybe not so much

when the cold has settled in

for a while

x

but then

the torrid in the summer

has its problems too

and we are headed there

and then when there

we shall return

by nature

x

a cycle

a circle

the top of an ellipse

and do the arches rise

with ages of experience

x

we seem to be stuck

in consideration

of annihilation

as the theme

and hidden ways

to prosper anyway

is it the zenith

or the nadir

how far do we have to go

to either

are we the zenith

or the nadir

x

we have this season

and the end of one

hello

goodbye

a cosmogony

fit for captain spaulding

because

hello we must be going

x

winter season

winter spices

wintry mix

(wintry salad)

wintry is the word

a descriptor for

three months to start

to tilt the other way

x

enjoy skiing

and snow people

and all the things we make

with what is

temporary

‘til the sun returns

or with time

the wind passes over

x

pleasure below freezing

snow angels

snow ice cream until

chemistry

became

our condensation nuclei

x

white on white

and satin dark

the stars will blink

though it’s our atmosphere

winter in our breathing

the steam we make

the challenge

of the next breath

go inside

make sure

for everyone

there are insides

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by kristaps ungurs on unsplash

x

some of the connection

has returned (c.f. my last note, prior entry)

how much

and how much will last?

the new part has not arrived

and will it fix

the device and the process?

I’ll be

of course

letting you know

thank you

happy winter

x

2

Brigid negotiate

(x = space)

x

x

Brigid negotiate

x

it’s the solstice

light a fire

the ancient gods

might have gone under

maybe to sleep

maybe to reconsider

but we want them

back

we want them

today we say

we want them to return

x

raise up the plants from seeds

so there might be

food

oxygen

and beauty

x

the sun-dwindled

day

unevenly dividing

light and dark

for winter

either side

contending

in the extreme seasons

x

have song, have silence

there are hours;

sing something old

and write down something

new–pillars

of tradition

are often raised by

rebel words

x

take nothing down

burn branches that are found

or acceptably

purchased

x

if gods want blood

they cannot have it:

that is our modern

prohibition

no longer

the fashion

or the will

I say respectfully,

thank goodness

x

Etain or Lugh

(Isis and Osiris)

might be mollified

with conviction

alone

or who knows maybe

with earnest play,

either

in the dance

around our dedicated

fires

and our spirits

moved

(maybe a feather for the soul)

x

have the day

contemplate

celebrate

we want the world to turn

to tilt the other way

through winter

through summer to the south

into spring

into autumn

all our seasons

x

C L Couch

x

x

x

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/winter-solstice.html

Winter Solstice, Northern Hemisphere–North America, Europe, most of Asia, Northern Africa. In New York, New York, USA: Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:48 p.m. EST. (Change location.) This corresponds …

x

photo by someone I’ve cited before through Unsplash

x

I’ve lost most of the connectivity with my computer. The problem might get worse before it gets better. I’ll be receiving a new router to try. But if I’m away from here for a little while, you’ll know why. Thank you. And if I must say this now, Merry Christmas, Merry Yule.

x

2

a third poem (3 poems about ecumenicity)

(x = space)

x

x

a third poem

(3 poems about ecumenicity)

x

x

Later in the Day

x

All the traditions

I can’t name them

Do you need me to?

Hinduism

Buddhism

Taoism

Jainism

Pantheism

See? there are more

And these are not

The yellow pages

(a reference to a phonebook

of listings in the USA)

Who believes?

Who decides?

No one decides, I think

Though

There has to be veracity

In coming to the table

x

The sole, actual criterion

Aside from interest

In community

Larger than

One’s own

(globally large)

Being lack of violent intent

Or practice

At or on said table

x

There is risk

In all this, I know

Something precarious might happen

The clean-up will be prodigious

The pan might flash

But given consequences

More so the promises

To ourselves

And the generations following

Risk worth taking,

Don’t you think?

x

Meet you there

x

C L Couch

x

x

by NASA/JPL-CaltechThe original uploader was SnoopY at English Wikipedia. – http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03520Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1134766

x

0

2 poems about ecumenicity

(x = space)

x

x

2 poems about ecumenicity

x

x

Many Things to Make

(nothing like a rant but a ramble)

x

And there are other great traditions, too,

About which I know next

To nothing

Remembering the Gulf War when

Some of us felt ecumenical

And took part in gatherings of Christians,

Jews, and Muslims

Where I got to hear the testimonies

Of the followers of each

And who they were as persons

And believers

x

There was a young woman

Of Islam

Who articulately smoothly,

Even beautifully

That who knew her better than her parents

With regard for her

And so who better to arrange

A marriage for her?

x

And I was convinced

And I disagree

And there was beauty in the

Disagreement, too

x

Doubting that we changed much

Of anything—there

Was still a war, and our young

People left to fight—but

In the moments

Of these hours

There were the points of light

The President then

Had been asking for

Inside the nation

x

There is so much more

To learn

About my neighbors

In the nation

And the world:

Who are the believers?

What do they believe?

What is the story of their faith?

Might they respect

The disagreements, too,

So that our world

Has a chance

To survive

To prosper

To believe

So that with integrity

We might reach for another world,

Too?

x

Pray the world lasts

Until we meet upon Megiddo

Not to fight

But have a meal,

Exchange apocalypse in faithful terms

And human

For a conclave

And a celebration

Of each other

x

x

Reasonably

x

Most of us believe

And there are those who don’t

Though binary’s not enough

There must be more

Than defining one thing

By its opposite

Humanists

Secularists

Unitarians

People of the Renaissance

Who gave science a category

Near faith

Without faith

x

Objectivists

Phenomenologists

People of reason

Rationality

Naturalism

Modernism

Fitter for post-modernism

Than the rest of us

x

Who could lead the way, in fact,

In appreciating

Difference

And diversity,

The creative celebration

Of the mind

And the experiment

x

Sorry I must

Define these as an

Other

But they must be

Welcome at the table

They could welcome us

We could invite each other

x

coda

x

Yes, which is not to say

Believers are irrational

Some are

Some want to be

And there are those who keep

Their faith as

Something in the wild

Those who lost at Whitby

But kept the Celtic

Style and ritual

Below

And now in daylight

Seek in celebration

Understanding for the rest of us

x

But faith has reason;

Might we say

That reason is creation

By creator?

Say no

Say yes

But allow for some very smart people

To believe

x

No one has to change

Except in violent intent

It should be an instinct to

Understand oneself

When understanding others

x

Keeping in mind

With hopefulness

That the one requested

Will in turn

Turn toward you to say

And what is your story?

Delightfully,

Be ready

x

C L Couch

x

x

I was writing before dawn and thinking about the seasons that are upon us now, wonderful times—and that in the spirit of this or that we might serve each other not only better but also for the first time, the stakes being, well, everything

now it’s dawn

x

by M. Garlick/University of Warwick/ESO – http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1627a/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99645426

x

2

Eve X

(x = space)

x

x

Eve X

x

I cannot help

But love the evening

Maybe you feel the same

And in the quiet night

A miracle

And it can’t have been quiet

With the mother

And the father

And the animals

And the outside

Night noises

And yet the heart is quiet

Generally

When

There is the birth

To contemplate

In the dark

And after

Maybe

An extraordinary light

That might be candlelight

Or dawn

Or an inside

Sunrise

x

And it could happen

In an hour of

Any Christmas Eve

With apologies to mothers

And to fathers

And to animals

The wilderness

x

But we might need

Silent consideration

Of it all

And then to have a new day

In more silence

Or the noise

Of a wonderful

However illuminated

Day

x

Darkness

And light

Darknesses

And lights

We might need both

To understand

How a birth leads

To eternal life

Because it may

It does

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Remy Gieling on Unsplash

Believer holding candle at evening church ceremony in Paris.

x

0

Blessings of Lights in Darkness

(x = space)

x

x

Blessings of Lights in Darkness

(appreciation of a Gentile toward the Jewish family)

x

Somewhere in Advent

Hanukkah begins

x

Sundown tomorrow,

I believe

x

Eight nights of blue

With silver lights

That dedicate

The temple

From our enemies

x

They’re gone:

We don’t have to think

About them

x

Now, there’s chocolate

And treats

In games

And gifts,

Small delights

And big ones for the heart

x

Anticipation

Practice

Family

x

My ignorance

Like ignorance

Has walls;

I’d rather be inside

The spirit of redemption

And occasion,

The community

x

The relief in having realized

Somber times

x

The pleasure now,

The fun

Of shalom

x

Eight days

Of miracle,

Of remembrance and the meaning that

Creation is in food

Also in candle lights

And in each of us

Singly

And specially together

Now

x

The one who saves is blessed

And offers blessing

And is the one

As one

Who provides seriously

And playfully as well

x

Is here

Beyond the count of days

And nights

But who is here

Inside these eight,

All the intimate hours

As we draw near to them

To have,

To share

x

Next year in Jerusalem

Then

And now with family

x

From the source of blessing,

Bless

And

Keep you, friends

x

C L Couch

x

x

Call of the Light

Photo by Robert Zunikoff on Unsplash

x

0

Grow Up, No, Grow Up

(x = space)

x

x

Grow Up, No, Grow Up

x

I wanted to be a normal child

And still

Qualify somehow

For Neverland

Or to ride a dragon

Unnegotiated

x

Something that’s quotidian

And wild

For an hour or so

A panic in a closet

‘Til the back is found

And open into

Covered branches,

Snowy trees

That beckon like

Fantastic men and women

And I shall have a part

In their next chapter

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash

Night View of the Dragon Bridge

Da Nang, Vietnam

x

1

Take It Outside

(x = space)

x

x

Take It Outside

x

Here it’s raining

There might be

Snow and sleet around

This is a strange place

For weather

x

I’m used to weather

From the west

Occasionally, from north

Or south

Because Canada or the tropics

Has something to say

To us

x

Here and now

It comes from all directions

I mean it

All the winds

In all their courses

Everything that’s brought with them

Or left here in stillness

When they’ve gone

Or turned away

As if we could conjure

As is conjured, somehow

Rain from anywhere

The denseness in the air

Anything

The comes

And we oblige

By working through it

Who can change it?

Well, I think we better

Not this

From all directions

In our days

Eccentric seasons

But overall

x

Experts

Not deny-ers

Who have no expertise

But go for easy

Ignorance

But experts say

The world has changed

And so has living here

Everywhere

For all

x

Don’t trust science?

Go outside

And move around

Through currents

In the water

Overland

And in the air

See broken ice

Too much

And drowning islands

New channels

We have lived without

x

Take back the Northwest Passage

Keep it blocked

With righteous cold

x

Right now feel the heat

You can

It should be cool

Where is the cool?

Maybe the ozone hole

Is taking it

x

But if it’s not conspiracy

It isn’t

Not this way

Then we may say

That we have done this

And should fix it

Which doesn’t have to be extraordinary

Not perforce

And unsure seeding clouds

Or oceans

Or burning what

We don’t like

(also bears a chance)

Or firing beams

Or changing the base chemistry

Of anything

x

We simply stop

Doing certain things

And use what we know

What Earth has taught us

To fix things

Replant, feed again

In everything

Let it grow

Let Earth grow

The goodness in four elements

And if there’s

A fifth element

(you know)

Maybe it’s

Our exchange

Stupidity for sense

The right to cool

Our rightly angered children

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Javier Miranda on Unsplash

x

0

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