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February 2023

Wealth of Nations

(x = space)

x

x

Wealth of Nations

x

O God

For invocation

Oh, God

To plea

Our world groans

With war

And the imbalance

Of the greedy

Systems

x

Justice should be a system

Greed is not good

Unless you’re winning

For a while

While all our cells corrupted

May yet cry for mercy

x

The ears to hear

Might be

The last to go

x

God

Help us

And forgive us

The Earth is ours

And we forget

And leave it to a few

Who vote for nothing

But self-fattening

And a self-deceiving glimpse

Of real power

x

Let all rise

(the poorly-

agendaed, too)

To march

Or stand in place

To sing

As if

Accompanying Earth

With all the antiphons

The spheres above

Below

That glide

And when against each other

Glory in the sacred touch

The music

Of all order

And all chaos,

Arranged

As creation’s gift

x

And this is wealth

Not the other

Once we feed each other

And can stand or march

(or sit with age

or disability

and purpose)

To hear the strains

Of everything

And offer ours

x

Our gift

Unto the glory

Of Earth

And all-around’s,

Of God’s all

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Illiya Vjestica on Unsplash

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0

Drastic Season

(x = space)

x

x

Drastic Season

x

Soon it will be Lent

Time to think

Of Jesus

For all the times

Out scatter-gun approach

(sheesh)

Hopes to hit the mark

x

Forty days

With time off

For Sundays

For Communion

For the Catholics,

A churchly kindness

x

Otherwise,

We count

And do not count

For who says

Well, today is Lent 19

When we have it

In a book

If we must know

x

No, the season moves

Slowly

(it’s even in the name)

And we wish

For Easter treats

Especially because

We might give up something

For these days

x

It is tradition

And some choose

Something that it’s

Helpful

(healthy)

To avoid for a time

If not forever

x

Something small

Like caffeine

Something bigger

Like adultery

Or other

Eldritch bond

The priest might say

If saying

That is mortal

Meaning uneternal

For our lives

x

My, that would be a season

Of such change

To right a wrong

And who decides

Not priest

Or even angel on the shoulder

But the motivation

Of one’s own

In time

x

And such a season

Angels would approve

Though the loss

Of what sin brings

Forever

Shall seem to hurt that way

For the while

While things change

For forty days

(now a dreadful count)

And fifty

And beyond

x

As the healthy sun

Lights from far

The mortal planet

That in renewal

Might have something better

In its molecules

And the un-atomed spirits

After judgment

Knowing joy

x

C L Couch

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Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash

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Segregation Wrecking Ball

(x = space)

x

x

Segregation Wrecking Ball

x

Separate but equal?

I think I am quoting

Equality

Some more equal than others

I have heard this

The bigot says

I want a line between us

A barrier

Easily, I want to separate

Every part of my life

Into what I want

Whatever

Due to my boxed sense of things

Some kind of superiority

Tragically

Closeted inside

Maybe waiting for a

Monolithic

Rally

x

Sigh

(or moan or growl)

Those of us who never understood

The world from above

Is yes

Without borders

How

We are one blue-green marble

Rolling in relation

To the rest

x

Segregation

Takes strange energy

Nothing at all

Like strange and wonderful

But an investment

In dreadful

In the ersatz and the eldritch

A devilish combining

To elevate

The worst of us

x

We can do so much better

And it’s easier

It’s breathing air

It’s waking up

Having meals

Walking through our days

To give each other

Without baleful thought

The time of day

The normal investment

Of our lives

In greetings

And strategies

Together

x

The normalcy

The unsung justice

Of equality

Without the need to say it

From having it

So long

x

Hope for today

And in the generations

No separation

Normal restraint

For being human

Normal modesty

x

A delight in who we are

Without thinking

Who we are

x

Not colorblind

But colorful

Tropical and polar worlds

Temperate zones

Everywhere we are

The normal grace

Through which

We live and love and

Have our being

A liturgy of ages

Let the ages fit with such

Actions and such virtues

Start now

x

We have to learn

What the future

Will not have to

x

Except in learning about us

And what happened next

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Resource Database on Unsplash

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4

We Need You and Sometimes We Can’t

(x = space)

x

x

We Need You and Sometimes We Can’t

x

Help us to love you,

O Lord,

Though

You may live without us

x

Still, we can exist

Together

In a bond that is

Extraordinary:

Of energy, of will,

Of love without agenda,

All around

x

It’s hard to love invisibly

With thoughts and feelings

We can’t see

And then

Your presence, Lord

x

With things unseen

And unevidenced

In other ways,

Our senses confounded

For lack of usefulness

The kind employed in what we do

In anything—and

How may we

Sense you?

x

There is stigmata for a few

And apparitions;

There are those

Who hear your words

In air

Or those emblazoned

Understood

Upon the heart

x

We want to know;

We get frustrated

Then we worry

For offense

(offending God does not seem smart)

Or we give up

Ignore

And in internal ways

We walk away

x

But you are there

We should believe

And within parameters

Of material and abstract

Hope for more

x

That on this side

We may have in measures

That will have to do

For life

And faith

And all the things we have to do

To make things better

One by one

And altogether

x

Tolerance

And patience

Peace

And feeding

Giving water

Giving hope for more

In all the needs of life

(material and abstract)

x

Help us, Lord,

Or let us help ourselves

And the others;

Be with us

And invisibly

Leave us to choose

In respect

Of how we’re made

And otherwise arranged

Our will

That we often apply well

Even without

Preternatural accoutrements

Composing a few rituals

For service

Pledging how to live

On our own

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

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0

A Word, Please

(x = space)

x

x

A Word, Please

x

Dance

A word I hear

Inside the air

Of movement

And of possibilities

x

Let’s try to move together

Earth and sky

And us between

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash

. . . five pairs were dancing tango . . . sensual, savoring with every movement. . . . ordinary people . . .

Lviv, Ukraine

x

So over three days there have been three poems for Valentine’s.  A study of love, a tribute to my mother, and thoughts about how a couple might move together.

x

0

15 February

(x = space)

x

x

15 February

(1925 to 1983)

x

Today is Mom’s birthday

Happy Birthday, Mom

x

I trust

The birthdays have been

The happiest

Of days

Since you arrived

And for the forever

That you’ve been there

x

Do you have a place?

Is it your own

With neighbors

And community close by?

I imagine walls

Made of bright wood

And a few

Favorite things

And a door that opens

Into spring

x

It is a dream

It is a hope

It is a formless prayer

Against the real joy

Better than my guesses

Of eternity

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by daniela de gol on Unsplash

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0

Facets

(x = space)

x

x

Facets

x

1

x

What is love

But ether

And it’s action

We feel what we feel

We want to feel good

We have

Responsibilities

Sometimes some stoicism’s

Called for

Pink and red

Silliness, devotion

Both are good

And necessary

x

Love means doing things

Everyday things

And then there’s

Exigency

Something urgent happens

We respond

x

We argue

And we’re sorry

We’re afraid

There is a challenge

To have others

Believe in themselves

x

If there’s only selfishness

In you

Change you

x

And if you want all this

Have love

It is lasting

And delightful

It is solid

And it’s fluid

It changes us

Love changes

It’s supposed to

We have fun with it

We grow

And if it’s good love

It should last

Grow up with it

Grow old

x

2

x

Remember also

Let the circle widen

There are good people

Standing by

It is a lattice

A shiny, moving web

A honeycomb

The marble of the Earth

That turns

That displays wonder

With the movement

Of the atmosphere

x

Keep breathing

It is wonderful

Let love be oxygen

For muscles

That do work

That offer passion

That do play

That understand devotion

Pledge-keeping

Even without a pledge

In mind

x

Love is fair

There should be justice

In the house

In the yard

In the office

On the playground

With our friends

With strangers

Yes, be careful

Love needs time

And air

And food

Real food

And of the gods

And God

x

Devotion’s play

Love’s work

So many parts

Live them through

Live through them

Delight

Evolve

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

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3

Valentine’s

(x = space)

x

x

Valentine’s

(belongs to you)

x

Valentine got famous

For correspondence;

Other saints send messages

x

Valentine left words

Of love and encouragement

As other saints have done—as

You or I have done

x

Then red and pink took over

x

Red for hearts,

Pink for I don’t know

x

Lace got in there, too:

We covered up our furniture,

Covered our piano legs

With that

x

Well, why not?

We need the colors in the winter

And red means passion,

Loyalty as well

x

While pink is fragile

As are all relationships

In part

x

Happy day for strengthening

Like exercise,

Metal in devotion

Like the metal in the jewelry

For a sign we wear

x

Happy Valentine’s

With valentines

x

Don’t force it

Or deny it:

If deny it,

Maybe do so

With a saint’s

Prudent

Contemplative quiet

x

For the rest,

Give the cake

Share the cake

Eat the cake

Enjoy refined sugar

Or have raisins

x

Or above the silence

And beneath the noise

Go slowly—pleased to

Talk it through

On or by

The sidewalks of the world

x

C L Couch

x

x

now you have a day to plan—you’re welcome

x

By Lorie Shaull from Washington, United States – Happy Valentine’s Day!, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56401542

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2

Good Books

(x = space)

x

x

Good Books

x

You know,

It is a good book

x

The pastor also quoted

From The Quran

Today;

Maybe I missed

The intent

(there was some talk about it, after),

But for me

It was a good

Refreshing moment

x

And I imagine there are good (refreshing) things

In The Upanishads

x

How about The Mishnah?

Theogony by Hesiod who

Believed

And

(yes, it’s cheek)

The House at Pooh Corner,

Which is not religious

But is pleasant

And spiritual

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Masjid Pogung Dalangan on Unsplash

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