clcouch123

Listen

(x = space)

Listen

Down

Inside

Outside

For alarms

For words—for

Signals

Of all things

That make a world

Listen for

Small voices

The kind that

Make a testament

As at Mizpah

Me and thee

On Sinai

And in

The gospel message

Good news

Of all kinds

That make a world

That made

The heavens, too

All things

That will last

Listen to them

C L Couch

Pass by

Photo by María Julia Martínez on Unsplash

Granada , Spain

September 24, 2021 2

Bother

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Bother

Lord,

It’s Thursday

And I don’t know what to do

There are many things

Looking after,

I suppose, like

The Kenny Loggins

Song about Pooh Corner

Some things

Might be important

In the world

Not for fame

But for minimally

Watching expectation

That some imperial force

Around the corner is

Coming ‘round

And keeping count

I’m not sure how

The anchorites and hermits

Pull it off,

Remove themselves from

The bazaar of interchange

For profit,

Recognition,

Maybe a place

At the table where

All the shining people sit

Maybe it’s the maybes

The desert is a sure thing,

After all

Or maybe they know something

So much better

Than the rest

And to rest in that,

Surprise in know

How content they are

But removal

Like a spot

Need not be necessary

It’s Thursday

We can pick up something here

Or there

That does need doing

And deciding

C L Couch

Photo by Joshua Fuller on Unsplash

September 23, 2021 0

Amnon

(x = space)

Amnon

I don’t know what

To say about the women

Who have died

Who were murdered

Or left

To die another way,

Another kind

Of murder

Casualties

In war or other

Barbarism

Starved, thirsted

Frightened

Or abandoned out

Of existence

We can do this

We can do this to each other

Men can do this

To women

C L Couch

[Image by] Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China – Winged Victory of Samothrace, Marble, c. 190 BC, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101242500

September 22, 2021 2

Equinoxic

Equinoxic

Is it really in the sixties?

That is so nice

Today or tomorrow

Is the equinox

And fall will be official

We want it to be fall, I think

The leaves to turn

The air to be a challenge

Time for coats

And yellow schoolbuses

Easier to see

Take care

Autumn has its challenges

Practice looking out

For trick-or-treaters

First frost

C L Couch

in the northeast of the USA, northern hemisphere

I looked at the temperature and said to myself the first two lines

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

September 21, 2021 2

Hallmark Would Have It Rhyme

(x = space)

Hallmark Would Have It Rhyme

My circle has

Widened some

In lively ways

And souls

Lois, John, Paul

(no George or Ringo)

Mandy, Lynn

Other blogging friends

Some of these from

Reaching out

A little

Some are a surprise

With or without

The reaching

And I am thankful

The circle has

Ends meet,

Even braided

Like the rim

Of that thing at Thanksgiving

Inside which are all

The fruits and nuts,

Wheat stems

Other good things

Of Earth

Like seasons

And like friendship

C L Couch

Photo by Shyam on Unsplash

I like Hallmark cards and enjoy sending them out for holidays. I especially like the Peanuts cards at Hallowe’en. (No, Hallmark people didn’t make me say this. I’m sure they don’t know I’m here.)

September 20, 2021 1

A Kind of Peace

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A Kind of Peace

A weird kind of

Thing

Happens for no reason

A reason

We don’t know

Yet can live with, anyway

Spirited

Even takes our words away

Fills us with

A moment when

We see

Each other

When we know the world

Enough

To have enough

For being filled of

This other way

C L Couch

Earthrise

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=306267

September 19, 2021 0

Errant Psalm

(x = space)

Errant Psalm

What shall I say, Lord?

I need you

I also need my friends

My family

A quiet place in which

To live

Normal noise, that is

A covenant

‘Twixt you and me

Not like Mizpah where

We keep our weapons bound

Because we have no weapons

And, if we do,

Maybe we should

Behold them

Not to be afraid

But to be honest

In deal-making,

Who else is there to trust?

The other contracts end

Mostly they fail

The living bonds

Sometimes they fail, too

But you are with me

And the best way

To have anyone

Or anything

Secured

I wipe my face

And offer you the same

You will take our earthly

Molecules

And turn them with

The Spirit so that

Everything might last

Forever

And a day,

The day when we come home

To which you take us

And you greet us there

Thank you, Lord,

For such reliance

Forever-keeping

In your gracious hand

Made out of

Everything that’s good

With which you make

Everything that’s

Going to remain

C L Couch

Photo by Dan-Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash

WordPress has changed the editing procedure for images; so far I don’t like it. We’ll see how it goes. And how I go. (Grr.)

September 18, 2021 6

Silent War

(x = space)

Silent War

Most people

Can’t see beyond

Their own perspective

And why should they

We were made

Impulsively to carry

One

Those who can see

Beyond one’s own way

Become the diplomats

Negotiating

Everyone’s self-interest

Every now and then

We all do better

It happened famously

At Christmastime

During the

Great War

When foes came together

They had stopped firing

To take up games instead

Drink together

Have photos taken

Then afterward,

Resumed the awful,

Blooded action

For a time,

Everyone saw more

They saw each other

The different colors didn’t matter

They saw across

The horrible divide

Saw the real fundamentals

For a while,

Which are few

Human to human

We can get it

We can have it

We can stop the war

Better than the appointed

Though they can

They can get it, too

Which goes for the small wars, too

Maybe we can

Instinct over impulse

Will

Look over the trench

Of a mile or inches

Take on

Protect

The other’s way

C L Couch

‘Pea Soup or Cocoa’, Longueval, France, World War I, Dec 1916. Taken in December, 1916, just after the brutal Somme Offensive (1 July – 18 Novemember) in the wooded area north of the Somme River. The mud of the ruined terrain covers the men and the small buffet station. A sense of humour is present in the cynical joke ‘Pea Soup or Cocoa’ – a dry comment on the quality of the limited food and drink available to troops at the frontline. Soldiers wrote with detail on food and drink conditions on the front.

Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash

September 17, 2021 0