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April 2023

Dance Again

(x = space)

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Dance Again

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What shall I do today?

Well,

There are things

How is your day

So far?

I hope it’s good

You should have a good day

And another

They should string along

Like lights above the porch

Because

There’s a party

An accumulation

Friends

Good food, good things to drunk

When we’re a little tired

We’ll sit

Under the lights

Under a combing of the stars

Pushed closer

Just for us

Your day should promise

All of this

And more, of course

i don’t know exactly what

Is on your list

Or if that matters

Gifts are free

And you should have this day

Like a gift

The cost of grace

Yes, spiritually

Maybe a bit in style

Good things for free

Good day

Good day

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

[photographer’s story] Whilst I was taking this picture opposite Saint Paul’s in London, a few people stopped to ask if I was a paparazzi and if I was taking a picture of someone famous. This made me chuckle!

[maybe we could all meet there]

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Bad Day at Third Rock

(x = space)

x

x

Bad Day at Third Rock

x

Today there is a war

People try to live

Without attention

To or from

The state

x

There is a wildfire

Eruptions from volcanos

Storms rage

Earth splits

As if on revenging

Or indifference

x

There is

Addiction

Other ways we live

As if to self-destruct

Like the tapes

That were for our

Entertainment

About

Impossible missions

x

Jobs are taken out

They were useful

Now they’re gone

We get divorced

From each other

As if the vows

Were not thought out the first time

And now we know

x

And there is everything

We know is inexorable

It comes on

They come on

x

All these things

All these sad things

Most of which

Destroy

And all wound

x

The apologist might be right

To say

We live in land overrun

And occupied by the enemy

x

Princes of this world

Maybe princesses

Though give credit to the

Insight

When some women lead

Thinking of Deborah

And Judith

And the chairs

Of my departments

x

The world must be more

Than all the burning

And explosiveness

Literal to Earth

Or invoked too much by hell

Inside the human heart

x

Live more

Legislate, perhaps

Consider how extreme

The campaigns

Or the intimacy

In destruction

x

Renew

Repair

Like people

Learn to know

How we are likable

‘Cause we are

x

Give Earth a chance

And when it fails

Negotiate

Again

And do the same

For humankind

Fix things

And then

Consider less addition

For the second changes

Barring

You know

Those commandments

And redemption

Even so

Give us a chance

And the cosmos

In turn

Might welcome us

x

C L Couch

x

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(citations)

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

1 Corinthians 2:6,8

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Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

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Stellar Navigation

(x = space)

x

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Stellar Navigation

x

Rituals

We’ve had a lot of them

My ritual

Un-sacrosanct

Involves the toaster

And the order

Of the bread

To place in

And to withdraw

After toasting twice

(the machine isn’t equanimous

enough to toast it right

one time)

What kind of bread took

Time

And what to have on it

Peanut butter on

My own feast days

But without the added sugar

As narration claims

Simply

What it is

Or purported to be

x

I’m still working on the coffee

Both kind and

How much

You see,

I was given the K machine

And it’s fun and all

But I am a neophyte with it

Unready for the morning

Table crew

Thankful for the automatic

Shut-off

x

I do respect the big things

But live nearer

The small things like

Snow villages

And for

Later tide as time

(Advent first)

Learning from

My mother how

To make the bunny cake

With cardboard ears

For Easter

x

But exhalation

After holidays

And maybe what’s holy

In between,

Which is

Most days

Perhaps

And with

Small-s sacred reasoning

As in creation’s

And redemption’s

Legacy

And with

Secular reckoning

For reality,

x

Which might explain

Hot fingers

(without the invocation)

With results

In our suburban-sacramental

Tussles with appliances

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on Unsplash

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Easter’s Earth

(x = space)

x

x

Easter’s Earth

x

Named for not a Christian

Deity

And time

Much of the day

Is gone by now

(3:25)

This writing before tea

Perhaps

While the day began with vigils

Counting down to midnight

(the first moment)

x

Around the world

Was meat and bread

And wine

Prepared

With paintings and statues

As if prepared for ages

To remember

To celebrate

To be moved in other ways

Creation solemnized

While we keep these

From war

x

And there so many wondrous ways

To have God

To know God

And to respect God

And each other

Every day

In our day when

We know something of annihilation

This might be

The best lesson

Yet

(now)

Of all lessons

In curricula

x

And loving our neighbors

We might even take a hit

On ourselves

To have it in the world

x

Though

You know

We have to have it

If only to receive it

For the part

Of world peace

Via the golden

And the fleshly

Circulatory rule

x

Have Easter then

With joy

Passover

Ramadan

Diwali when it happens

(Holi, too)

And days of consciousness

Rising and aligned

With thoughts and awareness

In a living cosmos

x

Let peace be universal

Let’s keep our hands off the buttons

Then destroy the buttons

Recycling them

For benches

The metal of our missiles

Into ploughshares

The paper of our manuals

Into better books

By libraries

x

Yes,

With all better qualities

And efforts

Well

We should not be stupid

Everything must happen

All around

Not only in showy places

But where some think

They’re hidden,

Too

x

We’re smart

We must be practical

Do you not know

That God

Is smart

And practical as well?

And love has merit

And is the better process

Everywhere

x

Easter rising

Let the world

With other names

Be rising,

Too

x

Call this respect

Call it withholding

Call it practical

Prosperity

Call it today

And when we think of it

Or must plan for it

Also tomorrow

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Ukrainian Pysanky Egg // Pysanky (meaning “to write”) is an ancient egg art with origins in Ukraine and surrounding regions. Each egg is a unique handmade treasure, where beeswax and dyes are used repeatedly in the creation. Once the wax is melted away, the amazing design is revealed. Many pray while writing pysanky — please take a moment to pray for Ukraine as you read this. // Each egg was designed by Davonne Souza — Etsy.com/shop/EggspressionsByDavon

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no commission, I simply like the storytelling—Happy Easter!

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first holy saturday

(x = space)

x

x

first holy saturday

x

1

x

it seems there’s nothing

but a void

after which is fear

there could be doubt

but what is left

to believe in

first

x

the body’s cared for

there’s the irony of a guard

to keep things safe

while making sure

we don’t get in

to take him

x

so what is left

but us

and an enormous world

ready to quash us

and to take our air

our allotment of

anything

allowed

x

we have gone too far

they’ll say

but we have killed the head

and now the serpent

body dies

and we shall have it

or leave it

shriveling in the shadows

or bring it to the light

to finish

dessication

and metaphors aside

we mean you

and to have you

x

your paltry movement

and there are many crosses

provided by the Romans

and the Greeks

and Egyptians

before

x

you are done

we shall have you

you are annihilated

not even space on Earth

shall have you

x

we can delight

considering

a line of graves

underneath the field

that we buy

with the silver

Judas has returned

x

well

not well

and so we hide

small care for each other

we dare to send for food

and prepare it

without fire

to share it in the dark

x

these are holy hours

we try

to pay attention

x

some count the hours

most of us

cannot do

something so constructive

x

it is finished

last words

we heard them

so did they

we wait for

we don’t know what

we have forgotten all the miracles

and all of what was said

to go with them

x

we hide

and that’s the hell of it

as it seems

that hell has won

x

2

x

there is the edge

of a hole

through which we see

what we have been taken from

and shall we try

to return

a circle

an eye

we hurt

wait, an eye

who sees

we see

does God look at us

or Rome

or the Sanhedrin

x

how can God look

God died yesterday

we saw

we heard

and it is terrible

but there’s nothing more

even from the cross

were the words

that it is finished

x

we can’t even wait

we can count the hours

but there’s nothing there

there is grief

the rightness of it

rituals

for a while

x

but then there’s nothing left

we are ridiculed

then captured

captured and then ridiculed

when it’s safe

when we are bound

bound perhaps

to crosses of our own

x

why do we even have

this day

it is a holy day

so to say

holy hours

holy minutes

x

if yesterday

had been the day

if the cross beam was

a blooded lintel

then the deadly angel

missed

or misread

and took

the righteous

anyway

against the plan

x

but it’s not fair

to miscast angels

who are commanded

by a God

who let

if not arranged for

all of this

and now has disappeared

gone to Sheol

though how can God

wait for God

x

there are no answers

only rumors

that we cannot hear

the world has closed us off

in here

and we will not snipe

or bear false hope

or cheat

material truth

x

while we are waiting

worse than that

having nothing

to wait for

x

we mourn

we cannot look

or look

taste and see

we miss our God

we were friends of God

for a little while

x

we are lost

after our paroxysms

maybe we

catch our breath a little

and shall we go where

we proclaimed it long ago

that without God

there is nowhere

the nowhere of the Sadducees

maybe

x

but on to night

and after night

not daylight

but a void

judgment perhaps

but what could we have done

when we were told

what we were told

x

friendship for hours only

new love

and now

it’s as if creation

matter

molecules

might as well

have never happened

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Filip Kominik on Unsplash

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a promise to make do, make better

(x = space)

x

x

a promise to make do, make better

x

nature will not mind

if we go outside

to kill him on the hill

far enough

away

from the glory

of our temple

and the palace

and the city

x

maybe if we pledge

to clean up the trash after

make the hillside

beautiful

maybe re-purposed for

a cemetery

or something

x

nature will not mind

if we control things

for a while

until

we have what we want

x

God appears

approving of our final plans

which means

our enemies are gone

or prostrate

and we are left standing

everywhere

to rule

from being right

x

pause

x

what’s that

it’s dark

it shouldn’t be

there are noises

above and below the ground that

sound eldritch

even the cries from people

over the sobs

from the few who weep

honestly

x

and now the earth is

split

and through so many places

so that we have to add to burying

xxxxxwe have to fit in

xxxxxmore to till in

xxxxxnail over

xxxxxthen varnish

xxxxxor whitewash

x

nature

we want to be your friend

we only need you for a while

to go along

with a simple execution

over and upon

one of your hills

x

come on

work with us

play

with us

x

we know you like to play

we experience

the seasons change

even through

our

desert places

x

but then

the wilderness will change as well

when paradise is made

because

God is on our side

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Dylan McLeod on Unsplash

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Two Children

(x = space)

x

x

Two Children

x

Holy Thursday

x

Maundy Thursday

x

Good Thursday

x

Nice Thursday for the church

If we leave off

The arrest in the garden,

Which sounds ingenuous

But the day

Liturgically

Is named for the supper only

And what happened there:

What was said,

Mainly

The command

x

And did they know

By the way

That supper was the

Last?

And looking back

Would the disciples

Want

To have called it

That?

Or did we need a name

And gave it

That one?

(names come after things,

I guess

for history

and liturgy

and calendars)

x

Here’s how it used to go:

We’d have a dinner

At the church

Downstairs

Then go upstairs

(from the social hall)

To the sanctuary above

And we’d have church,

Which is to say

A service

x

And there would be Communion

And we’d conclude the service

There

And it was nice

x

Sorry, it was nice

x

Jesus and his friends

For that what’s Maundy’s

All about,

A lazy term

For the Latin mandatum

Meaning command

For Jesus gave them orders

All the followers

That they should love

One another

x

That a few ages later

We should love each other

x

Good Friday

(good?)

Will

(for a fact)

Be awful,

And in between

The supper and the arrest

Admittedly

Is his time in the garden

Where disciples will betray him,

First two

And then the third

Follower

Who left the supper early

x

While Christ on his own

More than he wished

Asked of the cup

Not filled with wine from the meal

But of the bitterness

Of mortal destiny

Should pass by

As a deadly metaphor

For will

x

And then acceptance

And it’s really rather beautiful

As it is tragic

And then horrible

With an arrest

And all the dreadful

Words and acts

To follow

x

So we should keep the garden

Time

Somewhere in between

The meal

And arrest,

Maybe a kind of vigil thing

x

For the church meal before

And then Communion,

Well,

Was wonderful,

First roast beef

(typically and, yes, like the toe)

And then upstairs

Where we hardly ever

Had church for all of us

At night,

Waiting now

In fact

‘Til Christmas Eve—naturally,

A good association

x

And here’s Good Thursday,

Maundy Thursday when

We are told

By the child of God

To love each other

x

Though I’m thinking now

There are too many things

Too many good and bad things

To come together

Making sense

Out of a calendar

And faith

x

And yet

Bethlehem’s

Christmas child

And the child that is placed

Among them

x

And something about

Leadership

And children

x

And then

All children

Must and should grow up,

After all

x

So there

x

CLC

x

x

Matthew 18:2-4, Isaiah 11:6

x

Photo by David Weber on Unsplash

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1

A Good Wednesday

(x = space)

x

x

A Good Wednesday

(Passion, Passover, Ramadan)

x

It’s Wednesday

When Amanda would

Bound—how

Does one bound

If one is not

A deer?—but she

Would bound

Into class and

Announce, “It’s

Hump Day!”

x

Now it’s Holy Week

So this is Holy

Wednesday

For which there

Are liturgies

With special

Prayers

x

We imagine

What Jesus

Might be doing now

Because we are

Conditioned

By the narrative

For timing

x

Maybe he’s visiting

With friends;

Maybe he has actions

And words

For healing

And teaching,

Knowing what’s to

Come and having

These his

Final opportunities

x

For us

This year

There is a confluence

Of events,

Of seasons:

It’s Ramadan

And also Pesach

Or Passover

x

There are several days to each

That are the same

x

Three great truths

Come together,

Great faith

Celebrated

Bittersweet

x

Bitter

With fasting

And remembrance,

Sweet with

Fasting and remembrance

x

God is great

x

The angel passes over

Faithful homes,

Jesus saves,

And the prophet receives

Revelation—goodness,

Such good chances

That we have

To respect

And enter into

Many groups

x

The places where we worship

(observant)

Entering with curiosity

To know,

To have regard

For learning

And appreciation of

Our neighbors

x

Respect, appreciation—these

Are forms of love,

The kind of love

That comes from God

To feed our faith

In one another

x

As if God could say,

Come together

Right now

Over me

x

But don’t imagine

Not a heaven or a hell:

With appreciation

Of the music

We can have some

Heaven here

And have it there

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

(FOR ALL)

x

1

Alt

(x = space)

x

x

Alt

x

Are tombs

Really whitewashed

x

Maybe in a desert place

To keep the heat off

For a while

I don’t know if white

Enhances

Gathering of cool

At night

x

With herbs for scent

And preservation

Added after death

To show devotion

x

I guess we could

Understand

What might have happened

Had the guards cooperated

And helped

The rolling of the stone away

Unless they laugh

At women

Then tell them to

Roll the rock aside

On their own

x

And having gained entrance

Beholding the wrapped body

x

They might need lamps

So that they may work with care

On Jesus

Three days’ dead

And in what state

What condition

In that desert place

And nation

Well

A colony

In an empire

x

And so how brave are they

The Marys

Maybe with friends

Followed by apostles

Also doubt

As it was

From their own

Who didn’t move

On hearing

x

But back (and on) to risk attention

And arrest

For being some of them

The followers

Of the insurrecting one

State-executed

x

And here they are

Near him

The last of him

In sight of soldiers

And maybe other agents

Who paid Judas

Who has disappeared

Now want to quash

All parts

And signs

Every extremity

Of the body

Of this body

Dead in flesh

x

And now the movement

(body in the region)

Gone

Entirely

Execution

Burial

Ridicule

What works

So wins

The devilish

And worldly

Agendas

x

C L Couch

x

x

Matthew 23:26 and verses following

(plus the Passion narratives about coming to the tomb of Jesus, given in the four Christian Gospels)

x

Photo by Foto Phanatic on Unsplash

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