There and Back and There Again
(22 September)
It’s Sunday
It’s fall
And the light of the full moon
(should there be)
On Durin’s Day
(should it be)
Might illuminate the secret parts
Of maps
For our adventures
But it’s the hobbits’ birthday
For our attention
Now
Of two hobbits
Born on the same date
With the first fellow
Visited by
Dwarves
Who called for
Cake
And what is
A seedcake
Anyway
There was music first
And then a plan
To find a realm
To find a base
To find the horde
Inside the mountain where
The throne resided
Too
And
By the way
A dragon
In the way
Then was the second one
Years later
Who took his uncle’s ring
To a deadened land
With a volcano
Into which
To throw the ring
You see
The ring was more than magic
It was power
The kind that Acton said
Corrupts
Entirely
And Frodo
And his friend
Samwise
With allies
Several
At first
Quested through corruption
To get there
To this mountain
To destroy the thing
That
Took the easier story
(tell Bilbo’s buttons)
Into
Perforce
An epic situation
And all the armies of the Earth
Came
Or didn’t come
To Pelennor
Then to the northern gate
Of Mordor
Great battle
Great losses
Final victories
Though it was the hobbits
Who saved everything
At last
Wounded
And wounded again
With the assist
Of an eldritch creature
Half-hobbit
Perhaps
Who fell with the ring
Into the fire
Rescued by giant Eagles
And wouldn’t that
Be something
Then Frodo
And his friend
Could not stay in Middle-Earth
Though they lived there
For
A while longer but
Finally
Set sail
With other heroes
Toward a land of blessing
Land of healing
Over the sea
Like Avalon
To Valinor
We live there
Where the hobbits
With the others
Trod
And where hobbit-peers
Might be hiding behind trees
Out of
The classic
Corners of our eyes
For
Middle-Earth
Is our Earth
And us
So
Happy Birthday
Bilbo
Frodo
Regards of a thankful
Planet
That now
Would like to party
For you
Still wondering
What a seedcake
Might be
(okay
I can look it up
and
well
the Victorians
liked it
and there are
recipes
and other lands
and times
where I’m sure
we like it
too)
C L Couch
Photo by Lucas Gruwez on Unsplash
(as I recall, the house of Samwise has a yellow door)
Love andGainLoss
I don’t know
How are we honest
About loss
We feel it
We feel the
Not-the-presence from what is
No longer there
It’s rather plain
All the small things
That don’t quite work right
Anymore
Or at least don’t work
The way they used to
When
What is missing now
Was there
But then
The missing is another
Something
Too
It has been added
And we’re supposed to deal
With less
Than we had before
I don’t know
The paradox of
Loss and gain
Or
Loss and loss
Escapes me for compassion
Even in
A philosophy
Of love
Which is the “love”
Part
Of the “love of wisdom”
Though love might say
With philosophy
Or away from formal justifying
That everything should be embraced
What we have
What we no longer have
(I know
like hugging
a phantom
somehow)
Well
My friend is gone
And other friends are gone
And something of good
Feeling’s
Gone as well
Though ironically
(and paradoxically)
I suppose
We may need more such feeling
In these times
All right
No supposing
This is when we say
God
Of goodness
Help us through this time
For you are author and sustainer
Of everything beneficent
Plus
The way
(you show the way)
To deal with
What happens
And is
Injurious
The answer as in all things
Must be love
And love somehow in
The inquiry
As well
Which is added
To the present pain
In
Our reasons for it
Any of it
Plus the lack thereof
(of reason)
Clearly
Then
We go back and forth
And not so clearly
Why the loss
Even why
In the first place
Love
Knowing
And not knowing
Love is the means
The resorting
The resource
And was
At first
And shall be last
The seal
Our pledge
That is
An answer
With a reason
From
The start
And now even
Our gratitude
To go on
Positive
And with
Anticipation
C L Couch
(on the death of a friend)
Photo by Kseniia Rastvorova on Unsplash
I don’t know, a sentimental Friday? Cats and new seasons—well, please enjoy!
The Cats of Reykjavik
They wander
Like the wanderer
Singly
Sometimes together
They are sheltered
And presented at
The cat café
In town
There are thousands
They are welcome
All around
Like elves
And horses
And like these
Protected
Through acceptance
Also magic
And folklore
For there is a Christmas Cat
That urges you to
Shop for clothing in
The season
Otherwise be caught with old
And should the Christmas
Cat
Encounter you
Will eat you
(I’m thinking
worse than
Krampus)
(reacting to a souvenir and a little looking into it, into them, having Facebook and Instagram pages, by the way)
Come Fall Come Spring
As the new seasons
Approach
Fall in the north
Spring to the south
I hope you appreciate
The change
The opportunity
Encouraged
To think a little differently
Should it be time for
A different thought
A different way
Of thinking
Maybe
Allow yourself the chance
As might
Sweeten many things
Like autumn apples in the north
And full flowers to
The south
In the offing
Are new things
For new-ish people
Approach with care and yet
Approach
There are new colors
And new flowers
For you
C L Couch
Photo by Manny Moreno on Unsplash
(a cat of Reykjavik)
From 5 to 7
How was
Your day
Mine
Went strangely
But I’d like to hear about
Your own
Adventures that
If are mostly
Small
What you consider homely
Shall be
Frankly
Resting
Glad
And grateful
In the hearing
C L Couch
(I guess maybe there’s an American and a British way to say and use “homely,” one use meaning plain if attractive, the other meaning domestic even welcome—and I think I mean both meanings, if I may)
Photo by rebootanika on Unsplash
What Do I Have to Say
What do I have to say
To you
Today
Before new seasons start
With you
And all of us
As we progress
Through even more
Than seven stages
I have to say to you
Be well
As far as wellness be
That estate for you
To manage
Go well
And let this moment
Be a dedication
Like the ship’s
Though don’t sail into
White Line vanity
But pause
So that
You’re practical
Regarding lifeboats
And your best guess regarding
Mollified by what you have
What you’ll need
Once ashore
Be safe
Though the world isn’t safe
Do what you can
And help others along
Even with
And when the need
For rescue
Think of the children
When you make decisions
Because
It’s their world
After
And part of it even
Now
And also
Though seemingly
Impossible
Find moments
For yourself
And maybe one
You love
To sit
To rock
Or your own versions
Simply
To wonder
And regarding love
Remember
That there’s always one
For two
C L Couch
Photo by Illiya Vjestica on Unsplash
Shares
So
I’m sorry
I’ve been ranting
In the drafting
Anyone
(else)
Do that
Trying to de-poison first
So that there might be
Something healthy
As in virtuous
To say
That we are strong
When we are favorable
Toward
Each other
And the planet
That wellness is
As wellness does
And parentally
Sometimes
(at any
age)
For children
(of any age)
Bask in awareness of
Sunshine as good
And also clouds
Day
And night
Are sound
And should be left
To rise and fall
Unpolluted
Under which
Allow life
Even romance
(in life
again
at any age)
To dance
C L Couch
Photo by Leon Liu on Unsplash
have an orange happy
what do I know
of cooking for the season
cumin this
or turmeric
that
I like the smell of cinnamon
and clove
well enough
really
I’m in it for
the pumpkin shapes on windows
and some of the
really-not-so eldritch lights
at night
and then
in a month or so
the tricks and
treats
and really
at a certain age
or maybe anytime
doesn’t excessive chocolate
comprise both
parts of
that costumed greeting
though we
can say
it’s only one time of year
except for Christmas
(even
secularly)
and all the other times
the justifications
so maybe stick
with pumpkin images
in windows
and the eerie lights at night
and
moderate the rest
and yet
have a pleasing
a cool
if possible
(in the night
running for treats
mind you
safely)
happy regarding
and regardless
Hallowe’en
c l couch
get chocolate, it’s a treat; eat too much chocolate, it’s a trick
don’t feed chocolate to your dogs
photo by Mitchell Bowser on Unsplash
2 poems about the will of God
Last Will and Testament
My will
Then yours
I mess things up
Then turn to you
It’s a formula
I guess
Like knowing what I want Scripture to say
Then going to it
Shaking the Magic 8-Ball
Many times
Until it says
What I want it
To say
Doesn’t make much of a God of you
Which is a really stupid way
To think and act
Before a God
But you withhold
It seems
Act in return
With anger that is intimate
And telling
In that way
Though sometimes in the actual storm
That no one saw coming
As a penalty
And sign
Remembering at Last
I’m tired
I want
To write some
More
Without a thing to say
Meaning I want
To write
And have nothing
To say
That God is good
And loves you so much
That God is true
In being real
And being faithful
Perfectly
For you
Well
Out of nothing
That is a great deal
And the great deal about the Lord
Is simply to believe
And that is all
Something called grace
Free and easy
(always free
sometimes not easy)
Does the rest
And we shall meet
Where love has made a place for us
Just outside of Eden
With the angel
This time
Setting down the sword
Letting the fire go
To let us in
C L Couch
Photo by andrew solok on Unsplash
Artist Colony
Do I have
Anything
To share with you
Today
I could
And should remind you
God is love
And also
By the way
That God is true
As nothing else is true
In fact
Is the model
For the truth and
Trueness
That we try
And truth builds justice
Out of reason
And humility
The better things
That we have going
Not being
God
But being made
And image-like
(dark glass
you know)
We are models
With gifts
And what shall we give
Out of our giftedness
Our making
Now we make
And our
Giving matters
So much to
Each other
And also
More than we think on it
To God
So make
Co-make
And give
Even as the world
And circumstance allow
For God is love
And we are love
In this
We are the best we are
On the best Earth there is
Care
And health
And contribution
Shall keep us in
Our giving
And receiving
To take
Care
Be healthy
Let others help
(remember crafting tables)
Be love
While giving love
And
Who knows
Truth and justice might
Will out
In love
C L Couch
Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash
A photo that speaks for itself.
[photographer’s caption]
At first, I thought this was Washington, D.C. But it isn’t. But I suppose it could be anywhere, with or without an impressive building in the background.
[my caption]
London, United Kingdom
clcouch123 
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