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clcouch123

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clcouch123

In conversation, I prefer Christopher. My mom named me after Christopher Robin, after all. In writing, I use “C L Couch” (or, more simply, “c l couch”) because the form is genderless and also frankly easier to use. I have awful writer’s cramp. I am an educator more or less retired, more or less due to disability. At present, I live in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (USA). My writing here I mean to be occasional and also devotional. Either or both. The banner and profile photographs are by my friend and peer Debra Danielson. More of Debbie’s work to be enjoyed is at debradanielson.org. Thanks to each of you and both and all for coming to my blog.

Earthquake in Indonesia

(x = space)

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Earthquake in Indonesia

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Pray for the souls

Of victims

Dead and living

And the

In-between

We don’t understand the hundreds

Because we are not there

We’ve seen pictures

These are not enough

What would we see for real?

What would we smell?

What would we taste?

What would we be allowed

To touch

And whom?

And all the misery

We’d hear

From the keening of the living

And the demons overhead

And underground

That scream a victory

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Nature is corrupted

We’re claiming the win

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C L Couch

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Boy, 6, pulled alive from wreckage of Indonesia earthquake

Story by Masrur Jamaluddin • 1h ago

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/boy-6-pulled-alive-from-wreckage-of-indonesia-earthquake/ar-AA14sWsL

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Photo by Chris Zhang on Unsplash

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machine time

(x = space)

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machine time

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repeating numbers

for today

ones and twos

the sun is shining

angled beneath

clouds

mist that has risen

and such

above it could be blue

and then the black of space

with all our trash

and earnest vehicles

in orbit

x

look down

and there’s the floor

to the left

is cooling coffee

right in front

is this machine

with a screen that challenges

endurance

still so much easier to use

than typing through

a master’s degree

on Olympia, Corona,

and my sanity

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remember paper?

that’s what we used

for turning in assignments

before the imposition

of electrons

paper, sticky stamps

other adhesives

it was a world, then,

that we could touch and hold

and know we’ve used

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c l couch

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photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

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Feast

(x = space)

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Feast

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Is there

More to share

It’s Monday

In the week of Thanksgiving

For the USA

Canada has had its day

Already

There are rituals

Old

And newly defined

Played out

We go for turkeys

Franklin’s hopeful emblem

For the nation

I imagine for its sustenance

In the wild

When we were in the wild

We go for other things

Sweet and tangy cranberries

Thank you

And football games

To keep the men away

If so

They should trade places

Every other year

Or everyone should cook and serve

And play

There’s something

To be thankful for

Many will learn to pray again

Then wait for the next

Time

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Eat and drink

Some will serve the needful hungry

First

Or instead

How much is needed

After all

How easy to serve

Yet feasts are important

Here’s a feast

And at the table

There are families

And guests

And a good day

Somehow made by politicians

Owned by us

And how we satisfy

All day

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C L Couch

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Urban Gardening Locavore

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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distracted

(x = space)

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distracted

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in the concluding

of the service

we sang

in the hymn

behold his hands and side

and I stopped following

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that’s hard

the hands and side were pierced

there was blood

out of its natural place

and it ran away

from the body,

stealing life

and we are to behold all this

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it happens to others, too,

the bleeding

from a fall

from a blade

(the scalpel blade is good)

or from a bullet

or from shrapnel

or part of a car or truck

or other crash

and we can talk about

what missiles do

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we release so much blood

and it becomes

the thief of life

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what was Thomas thinking?

maybe he knew brutal living

and the dying

all too well

and didn’t mind the asking,

blood for proof

or the holes in hands

and mark of the spear

at least

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was he chagrined?

he knew his master

and the following

restored

for everyone, as far as

Thomas might be concerned

and in euphoria

he might not have cared so much

about the scolding

because blessed are those who

don’t need such evidence

for proof

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whatever

he was back

he was alive

the gruesome marks

the signs of blood,

blood now thwarted

in thievery

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the marks he saw—and

did he touch as bid?—either way

concluded,

concluded

everything

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c l couch

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photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

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the story of Thomas doubting is in the twentieth chapter of John’s gospel in the Christian New Testament

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The Loneliness of God

(x = space)

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The Loneliness of God

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God is not alone

For God is

In three parts

And always

One

And always three

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Jesus in the flesh

Could leave

And left

For hillsides

Other isolated places

Divine agony

And privilege

For sorrow

Things to feel the first time

All alone

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Divine surprise

Pain

And maybe

Astonishment

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C L Couch

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Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash

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Inside Armageddon

(x = space)

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Inside Armageddon

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Forget the prophecy for now:

Sometimes

Most of the time

We have other things to do

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There are the newly or ongoing

Wounded

Disenfranchised

So many who need

Our domestic help

And we can think the larger thoughts

As well

To offer courage

Without indictment

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Things are awful

We need help

That is enough

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C L Couch

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Image by vikucka from Pixabay 

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love alters not

(x = space)

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love alters not

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. . . Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

(from) Sonnet 116

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now the next chapter

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love alters not

has come to mind

I’m not sure why

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the poet claims

in poem’s voice

that as we change

love doesn’t change

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I wonder also that

we might do better than

(more in addition to)

the fixed mark

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love doesn’t change

when we encounter change

because we will

it will happen in us, too

age, talent

insight

dreams fulfilled

or unfilled

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will we love the same,

shall we?

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and I’m wondering

with time and change

set on a frantic world against us

yet

in all the deeper layers of endearment,

if we change

might we evolve

(I know, that word)

into our earthy, better loves

x

so that both

both adapt

as well as remain

(and well-remain)

and like the roots

of earnest Earth

unreached, reached,

and reaching

all directions

(the extents of our exchange)

we last ages

in age

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trust doesn’t change in time

it seasons with the seasons

more reliant

and more comfortable

resolute in crisis

and with good drinks

set at table

seated by the sea

that dreams with us

of better earth

in redeemed entirety

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thanking each other

for the love

that has not changed

and changed

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c l couch

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Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

(upside-down heart to look like a triangle; triangle meaning delta; delta meaning change after heat is applied—whew, sorry; maybe on a t-shirt)

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Smart People Eschew Politics

(x = space)

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Smart People Eschew Politics

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It is said

I’ve cited this before

That smart people

No longer run

For anything in politics

They are repulsed

They are not chosen, anyway

The crisis is

Bipartisan

The last smart person said

Was Adlai Stevenson

Who is before my

Voting time

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Labels don’t count

(smart is as smart does)

Neither degrees

Nor Rhodes

Nor anything metal

Or on paper

(smart is as smart does)

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Let the intelligence in

Again

(not referring to spies

you know that)

With some reach toward relevance

Un-degreed

Degreed

Either, more, less

I hear smart is as smart does

Journey to Hodgenville

To start

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Where someone looked up

At the stars there,

Too

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C L Couch

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Direct image of a supermassive black hole at the core of Messier 87.

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Meet You at the Place by the Sign

(x = space)

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Meet You at the Place by the Sign

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At the end

We find ourselves,

Which is why I do not understand

The quest

Yes, it must be in the journey

Why not take a journey?

Find an agent, first

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We don’t want to kill a dragon

There are too few

We don’t really want the Arkenstone

Too hard to find a buyer for

Too much destruction

In the selling

Or the having

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The map is fun

We’ll take the treasure map

Though we might have to earn

Some credibility

For display

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Sigh, all right

We’ll go

Make our final preparations

In the evening

Leave in the morning

Our weariness shall be

The last convincing item

For the start

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C L Couch

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Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

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