Heat
(a kind of review)
Fire burns
Which means that for survival
Fire’s good
And yet fire destroys
The fuel we place
But
Everything that gets away
The flames that ruin homes
For animals
For us
And everyone
And everything
Of course
That burns
The spirit of the Lord
We equate with
Fire
And I don’t know what is means
By denotation
To fire as in to separate from
A job
Still
It is ubiquitous
It seems
Like “they”
And though its forms seem drastic
As in warming
As in cooking
So we live
And by heat often through the night
And yet
To take away survival
Too
There being the matter of its
Wildness
That is the problem
That makes the thing hideous to
Destroy
Without fixing as much
As only to build over for
Recourse
Yet there is God
Again
Whose spirit is not wise the way
We think is wise
And is not
Tame
The way we think only in formal matters
Should God
Be relegated
Rather
God is wild
Even in wildness
You know
The wilderness
Which we won’t like for lack
Of building
Compartmentable
Purchasable
Convenience
(and the promoting of a market)
And
Who knows how God might feel but
Uses such heaths and
Pagan places
Anyway
Tame and wild
Which shall we have
Of course
But both
Let God normalize
And let go
If lovingingly
Amok
Like fire
In a frame
And who sets the flame
(out of
lovingly flammable
inflammable materials)
But the tame
The comfort in
The very God while also dwelling
In the zealous flame that both
And must
Love
As well as
And often even as
The heat
And I guess we must mean
The heat of all kinds
C L Couch
Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash
“Bonfire Night”
something to say to God, something to you
say what
I think I should
say something to God today
not about
the weather
which is
fine
about the tree out the window
and across the street
that looks as if it’s bearing
snow
that are the blossoms back
for spring
I should say thank you
for
new growth plus
reminding winter in
a romantic way
thank you
a wish is all
I hope this is a good
day
for you
maybe a day of extra goodness
in the eccentric
way
I thought it was Thursday
when it’s
Wednesday
an extra day in which all sorts
of added goodness
might
take place
and I hope it happens
for you
c l couch
photo by Paran Koo on Unsplash
my sympathies toward Sasquatch
we want
to find Bigfoot
but don’t really want
to meet
it
some take guns in
guns
with
needles
some with bullets
as if
it is the thing’s own fault
we push the encounter
I don’t get it
thinking
it’s like the Cold War game
in which
to win
is not
to play
c l couch
photo by Dare Artworks on Unsplash
What
(and why)
So what is love
But that we love each other
Undesiring
Maybe
But love regardless
Making mistakes
If minorly regarding timing
To being
And to keep going
And majorly
As in the trying of each faithfulness
Deserving faith
Yet
Facing
Letting go
Love does let go
In earthly jurisdiction
Though
Informally love begins
And should maintain itself
Love
As a family
After all
In all the shapes and
Sizes
Even states and nations might
Take on
Love is
Not weak
But is
Negotiation
Love once begun
As love
Should remain
And
Does remain
Though life must have its way as well
And there are
Separations
Finally
Through finally
Though imperfections
Imperturbable shall
Not last
But find their end
When all shall be renewed in
The right way
So love lasts
And its health must be allowed to us
While
We have here
Until
We hope
We’re there
To find the hale and lasting parts
Really do
Faithfully
Delightedly
Persist
Even as a new kind
Of forever
And we may wait in all this
Wait as in count
Also
Wait as in attend
Attend as in show up
Also
Attend to serve
(a good reason for
showing up)
So let love
Then
Be love
Let it mature
Like wine that should grow
Before delighted here
If once
And then forever
At the table where
Like Philemon’s pitcher
Shall be
Renewed
With better
For us at the table
(and may we all be there)
In that house
And at
That feast
On the other side
That love
Shall take us there
C L Couch
Photo by Haley Owens on Unsplash
the children
the children fight to change the world
and to save it
so that
when they’re fat
and old and
heavenbound they know
they fought
for
something and that something
was worthwhile
my bugbear was hazing
more so
and overall
the challenge to believe that
even
and especially when
grownups are
wrong
the spirit of survival and of growth
is in each
one of us however
young
even untried
against
cliques and
cabals
to find the better parts
of
change and what should
stay the same
inside
and in between
the truth in lore
in you
in me
and you know I’m going to say
in us
c l couch
photo by Maryn Brayfield on Unsplash
“Exploring”
2 poems while thinking about Easter
Aslan again
was re-maned
once rising
with all wounds save mild scars
now
unremembered
new life
new joy
wanting to roar
and so roaring
and then playing
with
the children
on a hillside
where rolling
descending and ascending
make
sense
in mortality
again
(recalling that passage in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe)
green-grass Saturday
made of plastic
even though there’s cheer
in memory
said memory to find itself in corners
through
the coming year
once making beds
to dye the eggs with vinegar
hot water
everything is nestled
for a while
and
as of yet
no chocolate has appeared
though we are
ready for the hunt again
on Sunday
for the same eggs
now
we cannot find
and then the chocolate
and there will be photographs
appearing of the day
and
of the day again
then in pastels
off
to church
c l couch
photo by Birger Strahl on Unsplash
chapbooklet for wrapping up the workaday week
(should you work this kind of week with its work days)
Guide
I’ve been on trails
And there were guides
And other sites
With guides
Though Mammoth Cave
Through the National Aquarium
I thought I’d like to be a guide
And applied
And got the job
Fort Necessity
But
Too far away
And I was unwell
And so stayed put
Sigh
We think of guides
They do their jobs and then
We put them
Aside
To lead our guideless lives
Except
By ourselves
And anyone who tells us what
To do
And we obey
Or otherwise we go along
Conductoring
I like conducting
I discovered rather late
I have good sense of rhythm
And a good
Sense of pitch
I have directed groups
But did not have the chance
Realities
Subsuming
To get the training I would need
To do it and be taken
Seriously
So I do the phantom thing
As others do
Conduct when no one’s looking
There might be music on
Or all the pieces
All the voices
All the movements
In my head
Southpaw
I am left-handed
Which
Yes
I’m told means I live
In my right mind
Statistically
(I suppose actuarially)
I
Understand
We lead shorter lives
Up to
Five years less
Which seems unfair
For all the terrific baseball-pitching
We
Provide
Guidance Counselor
I think that God guides
Though I’m not sure
Although
Before my doubt should intervene
My instincts
Worldly
Ego-driven
Take over all the choices
Sometimes I withhold
The choice
Long enough to hear
Or note the tug
Of the angel voice
Or pull
To indicate
This is what I should
Do
Where I should go
So I don’t know
It’s not
Negotiation
For we’re not in any
Way
In equal places
Equal parts
And yet
It matters how I listen
How
I respond
My decisions
(predestination notwithstanding)
Seem
To matter
Which might we say
From time to time
To listen to
Your know
The better angels
The other ones
Fallen like us
And yet for that kinship
We must look
To rise
Like the ones who fly
Roll of Thunder
First the lightning
Then the crash right after
Lightning
Close
Then the count took place
Increased
As hours passed
Flashes
Persisted
Though the numbers
Said the lightning had moved on
Inside
No lights flickered
Which
In a dismal state
Added balm to despair’s
Ennui
We Are Closed
(open to what’s next)
The hours close in
The last of the workweek
In my
Current culture
There will be a kind of ending
Paced by exhalations
As we leave
Where we have been for
Hours
Naturally enough
And on our way
(exhaling)
Toward home
Or pubs
Or whatever satisfied
Distracts
Over the connotative weekend
C L Couch
Have a splendid weekend!
(should you have the weekend)
Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash
visitationing
(there’s an answer to a riddle toward the end)
God behind the clouds
today
descending now and then
to look inside
the window
make sure that I am
still there
and I appreciate the feeling
though God could
come in
and we could sit
and God would ask
and I would
answer
though what I’d really like to do
is listen
to the Lord across
across
from
me
c l couch
photo by Ozgu Ozden on Unsplash
replacing a cell phone in 2025
(to my family first and then the artifact)
hi
my replacement phone is on the way
I wasn’t sure if had paid the insurance on the phone I had
(now run over)
but I had
I couldn’t access my account at first because they wanted to send a verification text
to the phone that’s smashed and splintered and (thus) no longer working
but there was a phone number that I called
and I spoke with a real person
who asked me for a PIN I didn’t know at first
and I tried a couple numbers in my head
and one of these numbers worked
then it was confirmed for me (by the real person) that I had indeed paid the
insurance
and so could get a new phone
for which I was given new numbers to try
phone number of the insurance company for the cell company
some sort of activation number
the number to call back once I had the replacement phone
on line again
I filed the claim
and now am assured (electronically) that a new phone is on the way
I might have considered an upgraded model
but received no enticement to that effect
and so
I’ll have the same kind and model of cell phone again
I’ll let you know when my mobile number should be working again
thanks
christopher
photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
clcouch123 
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