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Month

June 2023

thank goodness and gravity we don’t feel the spin

(x = space)

x

x

thank goodness and gravity we don’t feel the spin

(8:50-something a.m. EDT, USA)

x

in two hours or so

will be the solstice

if it were dark

I’d set a fire

though I could set a fire

now

well,

no, I can’t

because I don’t have

a place out back

or a permit for a park,

which wouldn’t work

because

there is a burning ban

just now

‘til there be much more rain

than we’ve had

of late

x

the Earth will turn

and tilt

start to tilt the other way

and in the south

we’ll move from winter

into spring

while up here

it shall

we know

be summer

and then fall

it’s hot and humid now

I once asked a Southerner

From Tennessee

(USA)

how Southerners

(thinking

in my Southernness

I had missed the lesson,

somehow)

how said

Southerners

cope with heat

and humidity

that are year-round

possibilities

x

said she

one thing,

air-conditioning

x

happy solstice

relative to the equator

whichever way the Earth

shall tilt

for you

for us

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by scott webb on Unsplash

x

1

Seedling Truth

(x = space)

x

x

Seedling Truth

x

Tuesday

Time for devotion

Because there’s no

Holy reason telling us

To do so

x

We heard

And we hear

Sermons to the birds

And they rejoin

x

Bible studies

With the ocean

Ascensions at the mountain top

And then come down

To the veiled valley

Below

Most of us inhabit

x

Where we must live

Until our gospel says

It’s time

x

Our seasons tell us

Heat gives way to color

Then succumbing cool

To cold

x

We rest

And now it’s time

To rest

Until we all come back

Green blades

Rising

Songs’ abiding promises

To spring

Remaining

Up here

Circling

Until your gospel says

Forever

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Steven Van Elk on Unsplash

x

(e.g.) https://www.learnreligions.com/saint-francis-assisi-sermon-to-birds-124321

x

1

The Heart

(x = space)

x

x

The Heart

x

I breathe a little

Saturday morning

Last moments

Before noon

When I would be called upon

For chores

Last free moments

Watching another show

As an excuse

Pretending its significance

x

Did I have a heart defect

Back then

We’ll never know

Or was I put to work

Too soon

Or was it the lesson that

Work is bad

And I should only be glad

When it’s done

x

Whichever way

I was a child who

Wanted to

Escape

And on rainy days

I sat in a chair next to a lamp

In the room saved for

Official company

And rather than

All that

I took the quiet

And went into books

With

Stories that saved

x

The mind

The heart

Everything that mattered

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Matt Seymour on Unsplash

x

0

tomorrow is Juneteenth

(x = space)

x

x

today is Father’s Day in the USA, and I wish happiness for fathers; since I have no earthly Father anymore (and for some time) and got to thinking about tomorrow; and not stopping in thinking about tomorrow, I offer this

x

x

tomorrow is Juneteenth

x

tomorrow is Juneteenth

when in Texas slaves

no longer slaves

and who were never slaves

by the will

that was creation

nonetheless are told

they are no longer slaves

and by legislation

for two years

or so

x

you are free

but they knew that

they knew there was an enemy

that kept them down

that weighed the legs and feet

upon stolen ground

to earn crops

for another’s coffer

(boxes in the bank)

they knew

they would rise

they knew this sometimes

on occasion

while chains and fields

and white men’s whips

beat another message

upon backs

of backs and faces

on the legs

that did the work

that carried wealth

to a master

who was not a master

or an owner

but for thieving

against God

and integrity

who cared not for blood

that spilled on blossoms

as long as they looked white

in the sacks

x

such evil

Lord

and why did you allow it

why is our will

so important

that we are enabled

to grab weapons

to split human hides

to take the rest from Africa

stuffed like oranges

in ships

to the infantile

and erstwhile

USA

and late give up the practice

through a war

a reckoning

for what all of us knew

was wrong

was evil

x

we cannot imagine

who were not there

though at least

we may tell stories

and send messages

through generations

to the future

x

do not do this again

live a kind of sorry

if need be

and if recompense

be needed

well them

pay it

from those boxes

of the profiteers

whose gold inside

still shines

still funds

still mocks

the rest of us

for color

and all colors

x

let freedom ring

we hear

well

let it ring

ring bells

ring all we have

that makes a message

and response

with decibels as words

that say

yes freedom

we must have it

we must try it

we must make it known

to all the Earth

and all the worlds beyond

and all the worlds

that are inside

and all the worlds

that we must share

x

c l couch

x

x

Photo by Wasil Ahammed on Unsplash

x

2

excerpt from “The Heart”

(x = space)

x

x

excerpt from “The Heart”

x

I was a child who

Wanted to

Escape

And on rainy days

I sat in a chair next to a lamp

In the room saved for

Official company

And rather than

All that

I took the quiet

And went into books

With

Stories that saved

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Amaan Ali on Unsplash

x

3

Oracle

(x = space)

x

x

Oracle

x

x

Pent-Up

x

I wish the chemicals

Flowed more freely

Is it that they pass through

Glands

And mine rest in the body

Without balance

x

I was calm

And then adrenaline released

Caused me to jump

Around

You know

Inside

x

And now I contemplate my day

And its appointments

And could do without

The set-to

Consideration the expectations

Guessing really

Going on

Inside

x

x

Better Living

x

I never experimented

Never toked

Never smoked a cigarette

Never tried

What came within

The colored patches

x

Now a grown-up

I get pills

I know the younger

Get them

Too

And apologize

x

Prognosis

And prescriptions

It is the way

Buter’s way for our flesh

With what imposes

From the testament

About

Three-score and seven

x

x

That’s All

x

But

Lord

There are all the

Hundreds of years

Of patriarchs

Of Eve

Of Sarah

The subsumption of

Enoch

Elijah

x

Too many dying young

Through

Murder

Flood

And war

And then

The many who exceed

The formula

Citing classic wisdom

x

How long shall you go

(that’s you)

Or I

Our pets

Our people

Or our nations

Chronology

x

We might play with time

In elevated ways

Einstein

Velocity

The vehicles to get there

And such

x

Slows down things

Perhaps

While we are fast

And yet the direction’s

Always forward

Because that’s how the story plays

And toward which

The ending rests

And waits

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Aleksandr Barsukov on Unsplash

x

0

Going Outside on My Own after Hospital

(x = space)

x

x

Going Outside on My Own after Hospital

x

Today there is a fair

Happening down the street

I could go out

To see it, hear it, taste it

Certainly to smell it

Shall I go?

x

A Prufrockian kind

Of consideration

Except I’ve been in hospital

(as the English say

without an article)

And I’m still sore

And I’m tired

And I don’t know if the twinges

I feel

Mean something

x

The cool of the morning

Now would be

The time to go

x

x

C L Couch

x

Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash

x

1

Go for These Days

(x = space)

x

x

Go for These Days

(Flag Day)

x

Aw

Today is Flag Day

And Mitzi’s birthday

The flags are flown

My dad did that

While we

Placed crepe paper through

The spokes

Of our bicycles

More of a deal on

Memorial Day

But that was past

And we had

Supplies

x

We’ve had

The different flags

I liked Betsy Ross well enough

Though to question her

Is fine

About the Stars and Stripes

Story

As long as we don’t excoriate

It seems

That no matter what

She was a patriot

x

See

I believe

In these stupid things

Don’t Tread on Me

Soaring Fort McHenry

Semper Fidelis

I think

They speak

To birth and to progress

Of a nation

Of this nation

x

And it’s Mitzi’s birthday

She was our dog

And faithful

At it

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

x

1

sun ascending blue

(x = space)

x

x

sun ascending blue

(haiku)

x

sun ascending blue

into gray imagining

a turn in fortune

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by jack levick on unsplash

x

2

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