New Calling
(sci-fi)
She had quit the complex
A while ago
A lay sister
“Mother” to the order
And the last one
Left
She had found a robe
Left by someone
Who had doubted
And she took
It
Wrapped it around her frame
Tightened the rope from which
Knots dangled
Then
Began her wandering
She needed shelter
Now and then
Sometimes finding a cave
Or what was
Left
Of a town
Sometimes hunched behind
A piece of wall that stood
While around
Hot wind or cold wind
Depending on the mood of Earth
Blew by
There was food
Mostly she tried to find
In
Nature
But would go with preserved things
If she must
She was no
Diogenes
She had no lantern
Though now and then
There was
A flashlight
She could use while the charge
Held out
And then the tube was
Useless
Unless she should need an abnormal
Straw
Now and then
Which she didn’t
She could make fire
She wasn’t looking for
The honest man
Another
Woman
Maybe
Other sister
From an order like her own
Another refugee
From ancient sanctity
In modern
Costume
Though regarding habits
And pardoning the pun unto
Herself
She practiced
None
No daily prayer
No minding
Of the liturgies of the hours
That she had often
Missed
Anyway
Due to exigency while
Mothering
The abbey
And now
She chose to
Ignore such things become
Anachronistic in
A planetary
Moment
In terms of humans gone
Mostly
She blamed men
Women wouldn’t do this
She had concluded
She didn’t look for God
For God must be
Allowing
Having let the world
If the human part alone
Go so far as to
Ruin
Nearly everything
And remove all company
Meaning
Companionship
So far
C L Couch
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
notes
lay brothers and lay sisters could and can take over practical concerns within monastic communities, while maintaining faithful identities avowed of their own
“none” would be another pun, regarding prayers at hours
of course, this isn’t real and isn’t prophecy (the future-telling kind)—rather Happy Hallowe’en!
Sable Invitation
My niece marries tomorrow
In Memphis
Yes
At Graceland
And
Yes
It’s Hallowe’en
Not only by occasion
But by theme
Her dress
Is black
And might be fitting
For a movie from the forties
That has a
Draping scene
With Barbara Stanwick
Or
Bacall
Or even earlier
With
Garbo
All of which to say
The dress is dark
Elegance
A masque after
For a reception
And there
Should
Be
Costumes
Watch out
Anna
That there are not
Seven chambers
The last room
Red
Really
Though I should be wishing
And I do
Wish
Happy wedding
And happier days of
Marriage
From your uncle
Too sick to move these days
From near
To far
Except
Like Thoreau
Perhaps
To wander in the mind
Farther than
Concord
Though more important
I do
Wish
Happy wedding
Happier days
Of
Marriage
C L Couch
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
(apologies to dogs—though my niece has a little dog, smaller than Toto, who’s named Éponine for the character in Les Misérables)
Kathy
I wrote a poem
For my sister-in-law
And then
Started to question everything
About it
That it had no heart
No real
Let alone deep
Humanity
That it didn’t address mourning
At all well
The reality
The need
The inevitability
Regardless of how we might
Believe we can reason
Things through
Not that reason has no place
But who can figure death
Each time
Or at any time
It’s a surprise
It shouldn’t happen
It always happens
This
Side of Enoch
Anyway
But we who do not walk with God
And are subsumed
At last
Must simply know that death
Is coming
Not as a person
As much as a failure
Of our systems
And it’s an actual person
Each time
Who had a life
Who had preferences
And
Dislikes
And those of us still here
Should feel for them
What we feel
Thinking
Too
Whatever we must think
Feel the loss
The pain of that
Take comfort
In the placement of heaven
After this
Or something next
However it might be described
Or named
Something is on the way
Though maybe
We mortals
Will have to rest a while
First
Our souls to be cared for
In that
Sleep restores
As we’ve known in our daily lives
In mortality
That is
In normalcy
Anyway
I’m sorry she is gone
I shall miss her
It’s not sibling pain
Perhaps
And yet
Bonds by marriage
Still hurts
To have her gone
to Beth about her sister Kathy
C L Couch
Photo by Javier Cañada on Unsplash
Comforted
for Beth
God keep us
Safe
This today
And when that doesn’t happen
Trust in you
Regardless
Knowing that the world
Is faulty
Because it seems
We must have it this way
And maybe all
The cosmos
Is fallen with us
And so
The stakes are high
In human will
So as to appear
Even
Greater than your own
Which is
Not reasonable
Though
You must arrange our will
To be so high
And seemingly
Mighty
Even to
Destroy this world
Though you
Have so many other Earths
You could
Bring along
But keep this
World
Going
Please
So that we might
Get it right
We might learn to mourn
And stop all
Human reasons
There are causes for mourning
Nature might
Forgive us
As we know that your forgiveness
Your pardon
Our salvation
Ever
Might be
In your heart
And then your hand
Extended toward
Our own
C L Couch
Matthew 5:4
Photo by Samsung Memory on Unsplash
Late Blue
Late blue
Dark green
Only the extremities
Are gilt
A corner pane
Sheer view
That is
Through sheers
Though an unmitigated
View
As far
As I could go
C L Couch
Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash
so much for a Saturday
my goodness
today is Saturday
and I was so it was Friday
then
could be time for a weekend thought
and I will find such thoughts
while I am reading you
but before
when I’m on my own with coffee
and uncertainty
what shall I say for you that indicates
a thought or at least maybe a thoughtful
intention
even like a prayer
I think that you should have a fine day
but I mean that where-
ever you are
which means impossible
for flooding and
for war
(that is a war
with nature
or in a war with each other)
you might be wounded
held hostage
you might be sick
from deprivation
that has many reasons
many sources
that the potentates impose
or it might be
the tyranny of nature
breaking forth
breaking barriers
that at last are understood to withstand
nothing
we can frame
so how can you have a fine day
against these and
maybe not
though I will wish and go so far to offer
prayer
in some confidence
regardless
this is for you
as it’s all for you
of course
while self-expression might be adequate
a motivation
expression for the other
should be
(I believe)
resulting
and so I hope for you a fine day
even grand
because despite it all on Earth
by its design
and more by our own
there is faith
and if all codes by all divinities fail
or seem to fail
there is our faith
in each other
which is the real thing in that
as I write for me
I write for you
I go for the betterment of us
while you might do the same and so
a better world
in spite of
destructive fire
by nature
or our species
the better world
sung in trite songs
but
sophisticated
(well
enough)
and real
have a fine day
and better
c l couch
photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash
Neuroplasticity
What do I want
Against
And with the world
I want green
That
Turns magnificence
Of blazing colors
Inside fall
I want a winter
We don’t have to be
Afraid of
Or in the depth of summer
Either
I want air
And peace in which
To breathe
Water
Not
To worry over for the
Safety
Of it
And while I think on
Needs
How about food
I don’t have to feel insecure
In
Having
Sigh
Something to do
That’s good
Maybe on the way to admirable
Though good
Is more
Than fine
Enough
Materials
To wear
And
To do the something
Cited only above
These things
Of mind
And spirit
And
Yes
Of squishy feelings
Too
I also want
What you want
And you may
Tell me
C L Couch
“your brain’s ability to learn and adapt to new challenges and experiences” (Cleveland Clinic)
Photo by Daniel Öberg on Unsplash
In Vigil Hours
Light and shadow
Move across the ceiling
We know this
In so many ways
By living near the street
Or with a passing
Storm
Or
Oh
So slowly
Moonlight moving in the night
Shadow and light
To make illusions with
Our help
While
We lie below
And
Frightened or inspired
Have the hours
Of night pass
C L Couch
Photo by Augustine Wong on Unsplash
Teal Pumpkin
(to make the scene-y)
A week from now
(Thursday this
year)
Is
Hallowe’en
So we may get
Hallowe’en-y
Remember
To turn off your porch
For
Treats
Or be considered
(either way
most
likely)
A Hallow-meanie
Such being the culture
In the USA
Even as spirits and
Mortality
Live with each other closely
In
Such a time
As it were
Betwixt and between-y
C L Couch
Photo by Parrish Freeman on Unsplash
Teal Pumpkin Project - FoodAllergy.org
Learn how to make Halloween safer and more inclusive for kids with food allergies by offering non-food treats. Join the Teal Pumpkin Project and add your address to the map, or show …
(easy search for this)
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