General Delivery



It’s all for

General delivery

Eventually

These words

Your words

The words of anyone



To our chagrin

It all gets kept

Inside the book

Except when

The doctrine of

Justification

Is established



And then

The sins are written out

No book mark

Or any record left

When we can try again

To draft

Compose

Revise

Edit

Have someone else maybe

Take a look



Then we commit

The words are out there

Once again

Actions

Repercussions

Maybe it goes well

This time

For we are clearer

Then become reliable

For this

To some



Even constituents

Those we serve

Most closely

While in the future

Subject to interpretation

Still



Whom do we know

And how

The ethnologists

Have a way

With story

And might get us right

Eventually



We have today

For saying the right thing

And if we need

To make up for it

(not make it up)

Well

We have our doctrine

Still

To keep us

With our God

And with each other



Say this

Don’t say anything

Restraint

And modesty

Could be our values

Too

With respect to keep a world

From destruction

And bring us to

Instead

A table

Neither polished

Or shaped perfectly

But smooth enough

With people standing

(sitting)

By for splinters

But ‘round which

We have set ourselves

For conversation

The expressions

Of ourselves

The receiving of

The offered words of others



Why

There are models

Of this

Here

And every day

Thank goodness



C L Couch





Photo by Brina Blum on Unsplash