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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.

All Days

All Days

(pandemic time)

 

July seems to be rushing

Toward conclusion

I’m not sure how that is

But there is a number at

The lower right-hand corner

That changes

Every day

And soon will be over

 

Maybe because it’s hard to

Tell the weekdays from

Each other

I was certain Sunday it was

Saturday,

Which should be the

Mind providing one more day

Rather than one less

But, you see,

All the days are merging

In self-quarantine

I imagine you know

What I mean

 

Some day we’ll be over it

Not because we say so

And we’ll look back in time

To wonder how we did it

With worse help

From Washington—well, there

I’ll need

To get beyond it, too

Not simply the spate of days

 

Cheers to August

More time for discovery

Maybe the science news

Like numbers for days

Will turn forward

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Tim Umphreys on Unsplash

Council Bluffs, United States

While shooting off fireworks on the Fourth of July, a summer storm rumbled in the distance. Crystal clear skies, beautiful stars, and picturesque lightning made for an incredible moment.

 

8

Ordinary Invitation

Ordinary Invitation

 

A pale day

Painted in yellow

Talking to the trees and sky

Green and blue in perfect tones

Framed through the window

Because the house is old,

Tall and wide

In this moment, there is fortune

Lucky to be here

You’re invited—look at that,

You’re here

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by yns plt on Unsplash

Çatalca, Turkey

 

7

No Indifference

No Indifference

 

If there is a God

And there is

Then why all the terrible things?

Because there are

There have to be

Otherwise, it’s all a game

And God is a demon,

Only the biggest

But there’s another question, too

For all the terrible things

That happen,

There should be no inspiration

No interest in virtue

Even to using it when lying

Why should good have an interest

At all in our deliberations?

But it does

We want it, pursue it

Even bad people

Want good things

Companionship, ambition

Self-satisfaction, pleasure

Nice things

Nice sensations

The bad has been twisting them

Hiding inside means that

Should be hidden,

A bent form of going after

What is good

Like every villain in every story

 

But there are heroes

Please understand, as women

As men

And people of all colors

And locations

And there is virtue

That usually starts with something

That is true,

Perhaps the truth

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Pavel Nekoranec on Unsplash

Am Lustgarten 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany, Berlin

[cropped]

 

11

Miracling

Miracling

 

I’d like to live in sunshine

I’d need some shade

Maybe water in the distance

Perhaps a chair and a small table

While I’m ordering

I shouldn’t forget the breeze

That would be an easy place

Oh, all the time

 

I’m imagining

My situation next

To a tall tree

From which, you know,

All the shade has come

Did you get that, angels?

I know you have important work

To do

Are you ever on a break?

 

Maybe between assignments, you could

Swing (should I say wing?) my way

Toward what really are

Small miracles

Even though they’d make a world

For me,

Any company—

So I’ll need more chairs

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by MusicFox Fx on Unsplash

reminds me of the character of the seraphim in Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet

 

10

Touchstones

Touchstones

 

I’m looking for

I’m always looking for

Something small and elegant

Like a Fabergé egg, perhaps

Or an egg-sized trilobite

The larger things

Belong in museums

Where we can see them safely

Mostly

Hoping crowds can keep themselves at bay

They can’t

 

I’ll take my palm-sized treasures

Though, like moon rocks, the Fabergé

Would be too much

I’ll take my fossils

Or a stone polished by water

Or the found things

I’ve made into tableaux

Enjoy retired moments

Before I go

Outside again

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Kunj Parekh on Unsplash

 

5

Future Tense

Future Tense

 

Mostly, I’m hoping

Some of this will lie around

Like Claudius’s second copy

According to the novel

To be found under an urn

Behind a shelf that no one sought

To look (behind)

For ages

 

That dusting off

(however that’s done

with electrons)

There will be some words

From someone we didn’t know

Maybe some initials,

Half a word for clues

 

We’ll read

And have two sets of wondering:

What was this person saying then?

What is this person saying now?

The first we’ll most likely

Never know

The second will be up to us

We own the words, now

 

C L Couch

 

 

(I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves)

Photo by Tistio on Unsplash

 

7

Today’s Apology

Today’s Apology

 

Sorry, I come to this tardily

Today

In the morning, I was at

The doctor’s

And came away, which I guess

Is something

Then I wandered for a while

Stopped at the store

Wandered again

It is bright summer

 

Because there’s air-conditioning

In my car,

I have no complaints

How are you?

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash

 

10

Newly Wise

Newly Wise

 

The comet has been passing

I haven’t seen it

There’s too much ambient light

Too many clouds

Or too much haze

I did pretty well with Hale-Bopp

And I’ve seen good photographs of this one

That might be all there is

 

At least for days we haven’t been

Waiting for the end

As was the way with comets’ appearing

Reappearing

We know our plagues

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash

 

8

The Final Countdown

The Final Countdown

 

And if we remember

Anything,

Let’s remember

God is love

Even inside the pit

Whose floor no one

Above has found

God is not only

On the floor but also

Underneath,

Propping up the Earth

Until all prisoners

Are released

Until the harrowing

Is done

Until what remains in hell

Is nothingness,

Defeat

 

The devil without a job

Receives an invitation

To go above,

Below

Wherever devils

Have met with God

Before

No victory lap

No dumping Gatorade

The winner loves the loser

There is a reckoning

And everything

Has mattered

This is no rehearsal

 

And it can mean something

If not all

For God to offer

To the devil

Forgiveness on the way

To freedom

Knowing such

Practiced usurpation

Could turn it down

Remain there, alone

Waiting for a

Final confrontation,

Reading

And misquoting Scripture

All this time

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Aida L on Unsplash

 

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