Good God
Good morning
God
I remembered this time
I was praying for a friend
On waking
Then remembered
I should simply
Say
Good morning
To my Lord
That’s all
I could
Confess
And I did resume
Petitioning
But what’s wrong
With simply and first saying
Good morning
To God
Which I hope God approves
God likes
And if so
Then maybe more should say this
Before asking things
First thing
A frame
In which
To have
All other works progress
C L Couch
(a sequel to something posted earlier)
Photo by Johnny McClung on Unsplash
My wife’s extended family lives in the hills of Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. This is a beautiful scene I captured looking NW of the Allegheny River. [photographer's caption]
(I’m from the region.)
god of what’s next
there is a
temple
toward which
all temples point
all
temples belong
there is a myth
toward which
all myths
belong
and have a share
in truth
there is a story
of all earth
we do not know
because the earth is wide
and old
and layered
with one chapter
on which
another pressed
open
the lore of earth
to find that
we’re all there
heroes
and villains
as we choose
or were conditioned
or those
who load the guns
or apply the salves and bandages
after
who plant
who dance
who seek approval
for good food
in a harvest
and safe water
for
the seeds
of plants
and also of the children
all of earth
someday
perhaps
to be children of mars
or proxima
where our myths
will go with us
and be transformed
toward
the temple
and the truth
we’ll need to take with us
as us
sorry
no need to reinvent the lord
more than we have
though we might find
a thoroughness of mind
and heart
to keep
a civil altar
and a loving congregation
of humanity
with whom we meet
we hope
to accept us
and new names
for one
in the lord
it gets
confusing
and confused
we guess
but we will have to learn the points
of truth
with light
the meaning
and the words
before
all of us
may and
shall
sing together
c l couch
photo by Mitch Gaiser on Unsplash
too late the resolution
(like Louisa G. in Hard Times)
she did it right
and she’s alone
I know
it will not last
in movies
with the rom-com aspect
but in life
decisions tend to
isolate
the more done on one’s own
the more isolate
one remains
call it conscience late
to be
a part of
worldly things
to surrender
what one might have had
for company in choosing
sides
and instead
go straight
if on a life track
like
a racetrack
on one’s own
so goes resignation
wrong thing
now try
the right thing
and because of all the circumstances
with
parochial judgments
now one shall go
along
alone
c l couch
In the novel Hard Times by Charles Dickens, there is a school of place of thought, in which a horse is a “quadruped” and little more. Nothing matters of the beauty or the majesty in horses. A child of the headmaster (and promulgator of the “quadruped” importance) is in essence trapped by the limitations in perceiving, well, anything. She learns, rebels, and is at peace with the aesthetics of the world by the end. But it is too late. She remains alone, sans family, in her good thinking.
I often think of this and her when pondering the story.
Here is a paraphrase of her final state: Louisa stares into her fire with a "gentler and a humbler face." She sees herself helping others but never marrying or having children (https://www.enotes.com/topics/hard-times/questions/what-is-the-conclusion-of-the-novel-hard-times-225779).
photo by Rich Dahlgren on Unsplash
I was walking up this horse path and lo and behold a horse was there grazing! I had to wait several minutes before I was allowed to pass. The golden hour sunlight helped make this one a keeper [photographer’s narrative].
the unchanging manger scene
don’t stop me
if you’ve heard this
it’s a Christmas question
about the magi
and their placement
in the creche
because we tend to know
or to believe
or to opine
that these persons from
well
the east of east
did not find Jesus
for two years
or more
not maybe less
and then it was to visit
inside Nazareth of Galilee
and was the flight
to Egypt
by the way
before or after
well
the visit of the magi
anyway
after some time
after the shepherds
angels in the sky
though angels could return
whenever
called
so there might
in fact
be layers to the experience
history
and story
and yet we put them altogether
on church lawns
all the characters
in what we call
Nativity
because that’s what it is
a fancy word
for birth
fancy enough
for shepherds and for monarchs
(not meaning butterflies)
angels
and animals we say
could talk at midnight
and that’s the thing
I guess
each one is unique
and they all
come together
with the single purpose of
welcoming
the Christ-child to the world
of people
and animals
and now
c l couch
photo by Patti Black on Unsplash
The Last Month of the World
Immanuel
With humans God
Or some such
The point being that
We celebrate
We even
Have some special songs
Only to announce
That God is coming
Though God won’t be here
But
In twenty-five more days
And how shall we fill the time
Decorating
Shopping
Going to the movies
The Oscar-hopefuls will slip in
In time for
Consideration
And the wars and famines
And atrocities continue
Maybe
Unabated
Maybe with a thought
Toward easing up
By the twenty-fifth
As a universal
Holiday
As in
You don’t have to be in the selected
Group
You don’t have to believe
As I imagine there were atheists
Between the trenches
On that eve
In 1914
Though I’m thinking
The world is often an awful place
Awfuler
This year
And I’m thinking nothing will
Change by then
The end of the month
This
Year
Then
More’s the pity
As some say
More’s the loss of life
Of limbs from the
Otherwise-knit living
Of heath through
Preventable disease
Or the lack
Or loss of
Fire
Through more attention paid
And even floods be lessened if
We did not pollute
So much
And there are twenty-five
Days
To fix everything
And
Well
I don’t think it will
Happen
Because it might
Take
Twenty-six days
Maybe even thirty
C L Couch
Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash
clcouch123 
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