ours
it’s my world
though the wars are far away
I could complain about war-chemicals
in the atmosphere
and more exigently about
war’s cost of life
the sad and tragic loss of life
by artificial means
those who had been alive
the moment before
and who am I but an Israeli
I am from Ukraine also
and of the Palestinians
Lebanese and Egyptians
Iraq
and Iran
and Russia
knowing some fine people there
I am of all despot states
especially the ones who say they’re not
I am of Earth
and so are you
and so means of destruction
hit at the statues of our lives and states
destroys us
piece by piece
one oppressive act by the next
whatever takes out freedom
will
and life
hours
exchange
one deadly volley
then another back or
somewhere else
maybe
toward allied
then the arcs overlap
and collapse
order
of things
and then we say it’s over
‘cause we say
and then ceasefire’s broken
and
who is left
respecting whom
worse than chaos is
the void
we shouldn’t move toward such
things
such lack of shape and substance
and the life itself
one life by one
c l couch
photo by mauro mora on Unsplash
interior-castling
sigh
I want the love of God
pervade my life
Teresa had it
when she sought sacred ecstasy
as if to rise
with God
wings lent from angels
in
the revelation moments
and
then to come down to mortal living
for the nonce
yet with holy meaning
in the hours
and could I live with God
that way
if less
if domestically
to have earned presence somehow
through apartment living in
small towns
in such
plain hours
and a less-than-regular
me
hoping for more
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photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
first full days
the day
twenty-four
and slightly less the light
from
day before
new season in transition
to the next
already
as our placement of the calendar
has set
and should we move
the season’s
markings as was done
still is
else-where
or when
so that midsummer
say
is the middle of the summer
and
so around
coda
the wars
certainly are
the vastly greater issue
with
especially cessation
come to mind
and
maybe
to the table
and there’s the warming of the Earth
that’s down to us
regardless
how we count
better to have seasons
in
whatever way
that are
redemptive by our ownership
cooler
how about all and
everyone
by our strategies
and practices
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from the solstice
photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash
just and unjust
forgive me when
I fall
not
through accident but through
some poor
design
for
the devil’s poor that way
while
God is rich
to give
which I should remember
and while grace
be mine
and
yours
it’s not enough on Earth sometimes
to know
and wounds are honest pain outward
inward
and while there are accidents
sometimes and
often
hurts are delivered
oh
so consciously
still spilling blood
of
a kind
with not nearly enough doing
to patch up
c l couch
photo by Rémi Boyer on Unsplash
soul power
let us break bread and
drink
wine together
breaking hate for whatever
reason
we saw justified
wine as blood
to know that blood is poured
and
has been poured
and except
by the one must be
bled no
longer for the rest
to say today
and
how
shall we rejoin
(or if
rejoin)
tomorrow
if
we could
remember on our
knees
in faith
to the one
and then in service
also
to each other
then
that we study war no more
but
let peace prevail and
a feast
by love
by love
tempered by wisdom as
mercy tempers
justice
unafraid
overcome
if afraid
still overcome
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for Juneteenth
photo by Ian Kiragu on Unsplash
gray day haiku
I don’t know if when
days don’t come so featureless
I touch relief of sun
gray day without arcs
no cloud-lines with interest
could wake to bright day
our moods by weather
we can do better by this
don’t be ruled by sky
there are sky-signals
sometimes land and water cast
warning signs to us
c l couch
photo by Tolga Ahmetler on Unsplash
you, the season, and the Bible (3 poems)
the Tuesday verse
it’s Tuesday
how
are you
well
I hope
and
if not on your way toward
becoming well
and more
I don’t know what kind
of day you’ll have
today
maybe one of actual prosperity
or
to refine only
hope for
more
maybe there will be peace
this day
though there might be conflict
just
as well
the world as it is
we know
here it happens to be
raining and it’s
cooler
it might be raining where you are
as well
as
it falls near
everyone
even in the desert now
and
then
a happy Tuesday to you
and we try to raise our thoughts
toward
a Wednesday with
an even
better view
maybe weather
notwithstanding
or
altering
the longest day
the solstice is approaching
Midsummer
or
Saint John’s
and then the days grow shorter
though it’s
summer
and we think if in irony of longer
days
relish
in fact
the light of day that lingers as a cue
for picnics and vacations
or
simply to take in
because of the gradients of
blue
and then
the stars appear to dance
to twinkle through the atmosphere
at least
in the summer hours we have
which
will grow longer for them
maybe in the dark of only this time
of year
we’ll also think of kick-the-can and
capture-the-
flag
time and talent
Jesus wept
the reputed shortest verse
though
it’s a matter of numbering and syntax
of translators
and
then getting by the editors in
the inspired process
and maybe new translations
paraphrases
challenge other parts for that epithet
say
to write in Genesis
God made
or maybe to try
only
God
c l couch
photo by Wenying Yuan on Unsplash
good and plenty
(not that I’m a fan of licorice)
God is good
and God is here
we reach out
to God
while we are here
wishing ours were better
when it’s
not
and also taking time
and sharing words of thanksgiving
for part of that
good
we have
and life goes mingled this way
even
with the Lord
and we persist in this adulterated life
because we should and is
our impulse to go
on
not
to wish ourselves to heaven
way before it’s time
or
whenever
the surprise to know
with
sadness left behind
while on the way toward joy in paradise
and this
is how it goes
as well
a mingled afterlife
and
not
to say this life is a rehearsal only
for it’s not
while it is for what comes after
it is its own
for dreaming and for realizing dreams
with
accountability along the way
so if frustrating
not
to have virtue instantly
rewarded
there is nonetheless
far-down peace that rises
through our flesh and to
our eyes
and mouths
to exude and share
what
we might know of lasting joy
that like the class activity to tell and
show
even the love of God and love as God
on Earth
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(allusion aside, the candy licorice fan would be my sister)
photo by The Nix Company on Unsplash
the week
a new week to you
and should you have it
maybe with
some hours yet unplanned
though
expectations beckon
some time wrangled as this
might need wrangling
for
oneself
and for them
each kind
and for each one
and there should be peace in that
and if none
then a chiming and a watchword
to design
and re-design
time
and intent
work with play
to find and have and live the loves that
make the rest
foundation with resources
added
new expectations maybe
balance
margin
whatever called or used
to impose the human
and approving the divine and in
a partnership
to live
and move
and have our being
have time and let the time be normal
for you
and for them
and don’t parse this
rather
you
and them
and maybe for an errant word from
me
or the peer community
peace to you this
week
if it may
with pleasure
and accomplishment
and love as a thread through
all
the fabric to the edges of the loom
and then
tucked under
and
if possible
if and when it’s healthy
live
and work in partnership
c l couch
I hope it’s been a good Father’s Day; yesterday (I didn’t note), was Flag Day in the USA and Mitzi’s birthday, everywhere
Acts 17:28 (referenced)
photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
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