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August 2026

islands

islands

I was put off
by use
of the word “Whorehouse”
in
the title

what do I know

liked her work in
9 to 5
and Rhinestone
and better works whose
names
I can’t recall

her commanding pitch in songs
her marriage on Earth
of
59 years
her
foundation sponsoring
as
in making possible
literacy around the world
starting
I guess
in Tennessee

her love of the South
and then
everywhere
and everything to love
and
everyone

music
gone from Earth

music
in heaven

Dolly Parton

clc

drafting right after reading

my brother Paul worked with her in music, theatre production

Dolly Parton @DollyParton
Global icon and humanitarian, Dolly Parton, known to the world as a beloved singer, songwriter, philanthropist, actress, playwright, and author died peacefully today in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80 years old.
. . .

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birthday in Hobbiton

birthday in Hobbiton

in one month
still get a hobbit charge
to give
and to receive
and wonder where the latest mathoms
are

a party
well
maybe for the young ones

I’d just as soon sit with friends
drink dark ale
hear some un-birthday music
and then
simple
conversation
about anything but me

c l couch

B’s and F’s is actually on the twenty-second

photo by Tim Zänkert on Unsplash
don’t do unless in Hobbiton, attended by a wizard

The Lord of the Rings, the inspired prompt for this work, is a series by J. R. R. Tolkien

(line-spacing without variations by WordPress, sigh)

0

I think Jane wanted to do something

I think Jane wanted to do something

remember
or
why would we
except I
do
of
Dick and Jane
with Spot and Puff
and
I guess Mom and
Dad

and they wanted to do things
but had to be smart
about these
and most things worked out
well
I think

and it was maybe to cite
the Think and
Do
program
and franchise for each district

and I guess that was
all right
except that Dick and Jane were awfully white
or
graphically blank but if with Anglo
features

and were they Protestant
as
was expected by the WASPs
in charge

could they be
Jewish
or Muslim
or Catholic or
agnostic

and Nancy Drew
fought crime after church
first
church on Sundays

and these were mentors
I suppose
from school where I was frantic
or home after
the reading chair where and when there’d been
some peace
and
to
get by
acceptably with freedom
if to feel
in summers only

then the next grade to fear
and to endure
unless investing
in
indifference

you know
too cool for school
and
forgetting what I might have learned

fright
then
or ennui
and could we not do better
serving us

and
not
to say that family doesn’t matter
for the dog and cat
and the whole family
needing care

maybe
adding what’s added
anyway
in the world for
faith
and reconstructed families
with
all the colors and the shapes
that Peter Max
elicited
and all the variations in the world
allow and by which keep
teaching for
our
learning

where and
how
Dick and Jane and with all names
to learn

c l couch

photo by Tianlei Wu on Unsplash
“meet my boi”

0

undeferred

undeferred

maybe the universe
is better noise
except for that half hour from heaven

otherwise
a harmony
of spheres

of cubes
planes on or off axis
axes
and
dimensions

better when we’re talking
even better when
we’re singing

that is
anything by way of music
mountains as instruments
moons as notes
on staffs of
interplanetary compositions

let dreaming become
utterance
instantly encouraged

no deferring here
or there
at first
at last

c l couch

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?

. . .

—Langston Hughes

photo by Benjamin Chambon on Unsplash

so far, the line-spacing remains uniform, no matter how I’d like to separate the elements on the page (and it seems I’m needing to reformat often, part or all, sigh)

0

depth and breadth and height

depth and breadth and height
prompt by her Sonnet 43

why do you love us

you could count
the ways

you love our flaws

you love what’s good about us
too

you love what we are
and what we’re not
in
what we want
and parsing what we want
by
perfect virtue

who we are
by you
by us
even by how the world has shaped us

you love healing us
when wills align

and in the end
to
take us home
where you won’t love us less
but there will be more

c l couch

photo by Mohamed B. on Unsplash

the poetry format is still not working right by WordPress; I can load lines but not spaces between lines, sigh

0

need and pleasure

need and pleasure

those whose hunger and thirst
are dire
deserve food and
drink
and a balance for the body

I guess after need is met
I mean for
everyone
with food allowed there might come preference
and
pleasure

so that we have fun in the feast
once life secured

know I might rest
knowing the other might
sleep
as well
satisfied
perhaps in every way

though that could take another sermon

c l couch

Romans 14
15 If your brother or sister is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let your good be slandered. 17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

(the preaching this morning was based on this chapter–the verse above being my response, not the preaching in the service)

photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash

(WordPress continues not respecting the poetry format; I reached out and got a response promising a response–shall I be glad A-I can’t solve this?)

0

time is deciding

time is deciding
here and there from green to gold
late summer changes

c l couch

photo by Erika Fletcher on Unsplash

WordPress still won’t let me paste poetry to the page, a change from three days ago that doesn’t serve at all; I guess now I’ll have to shop around; I performed another technical two-step today to get anything down; if you write and post in the same way, then maybe you’re experience this frustration, too (only A-I has responded to my complaint without satisfactory responses)

0

God’s approval

God’s approval

how do we deal
knowing
that it’s coming
that
it’s here
and mostly by ignoring
it would seem
though
approval is a form of love
and maybe
there’s forbearance
too

c l couch


photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash


as for the WordPress poetry function, it continues awry; I've end-run around paragraphed lines I didn't ask for, and maybe that will work for now
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bright yellow bright red

bright yellow bright red

small pointed creatures feeding

see and hear out front

c l couch

(during house-care while friends are away

line spacing is wonky at WordPress today–or I am)

photo by Artem Klets on Unsplash

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