No Amens Required
(prayers, devotions for occasions)
reach
thank you
God
for today
as it is
in these smooth hours
even before
everything gets difficult
again
Say
God
What shall we say that you
Provide
And is the cost
Belief
Or does
Grace mean
That everything is
Free
And
Do you love us
Anyway
And
Do you love the ones we know
Are evil
Or merely corrupted
Even in their prosperity
Good
And
Evil
We may not think on these
We might
Instead
By getting by
Or
Trying to
And could we
Ask
We’d only ask for this
And leave the larger matters
Maybe
Well
Maybe
Up to you
Sorry a Tired Prayer
(if not fed-up)
Lord
You made me this say
And the world
And my own
Mistakes
I guess
And I don’t know
Not that I wouldn’t own
But what should I
Own
And what is the fault of
Something else
And
I don’t know
Except
I’m tired of the way things are
Thinking
Peace
Would be preferred
Even over love
For an ambition
Even
A dream from which a plan
To get me
There
A confession
Maybe
An asking
Without doubt
Because
I hope
At least
You’ll do it
Grant me what I need
I don’t mean to ask it
As a wish
Before a genie
Having
Shined a
Lamp
You are not Loki or the
Raven
And yet
Christ might inherit all the qualities
Of
Fools
Which might mean tricksters
And
Who knows
Maybe the world is a trick
From which we wake
Or which is
Ours
To change
And yet
Sigh
Maybe I have some peace
Maybe too old
In age of spirit
Too
Exhausted to
Ask for
More
And yet I’ll pledge
To take
My part in it somehow
shall I say to you
(even daring to assure)
what shall I say to you today
dear
reader
responder
to hang on
or to glory in prosperity
(the second maybe
I don’t need
to
emphasize)
but God smile on you
anew
if it seems not ongoing
be with you
and love you through everything
the easy
and the strong
that seems against
you
the stable
if it’s good
or that which shatters
we must believe
because
it must
God be with you through it all
and God is
C L Couch
Photo by Dmytro Bayer on Unsplash
heart transplant
sometimes when we’re in
too deep
we think of someone tells us
we must come up
for air
because the heart
the body
cannot live
without it
cannot live without the other thing
as well
call it by the many names
in many languages
I think each tongue has
more than one
word for it
it isn’t God
though close
and I don’t want
to leave you with a riddle
though
you show know it or
can find someone
to tell you
to remind you
nothing so deep
but this isn’t deeper
more
lasting and
in fact
the core
of each
and
dare I say of all
and I don’t think
(by the way)
that God will mind
not really
supplanting
but
investing this again
if need be
in
our lives
and if Giod minds
I’m sorry
no fault of
your
own
c l couch
photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
The Warmth of Light
(light about light)
Am I done
I mean for now and
Not
Tomorrow
The brilliant light behind
Me
Through the window
Keeps on shining
Making
Dust-exposed squares upon
The floor
Which is fine
Against
A social expectation
Light is yellow
It is gold
It is precious as we say
Of gold
Against the grayness of
The winter
And too many days
That do not shine
At all
Until
Maybe toward sunset
When sunlight shall slide beneath
The line of clouds
Before
The night
To make a light-prized
If late
Day of it
More usual
Winter’s day
Rather today and
In
These parts
We have a gift
In part
Because the buildings
Aren’t so tall
And
Well
Because I’m looking at it
Even warmed a bit
By a ray
And you might be looking
And be warmed
Should the winter-light ironic
Be good
In your
Current situation
Otherwise if
Far
Far
South
(not
so-far polar south)
Seek a/c
While some might think
Too
Light on light
To write about
Though
Maybe the proof is in
To read
About
And
I don’t know
Maybe feel all right
After
C L Couch
Photo by Nadine Marfurt on Unsplash
St. Gallen, Switzerland
Negotiating for Green Earth
We had the snow
Walls of white on branches
Black
And while birds
And scittering critters
Went elsewhere or stayed in something
Still
And warm
I hope
By nature’s acumen and skill
Even before it all began
And I’d send the snow out west
To the fires
If I could
Surrendering the romance
So that the practical
Might have more means
Material
With which to end
The blazes
Then start patrolling of
Embers
C L Couch
Photo by Filippos Sdralias on Unsplash
The Consequences of the Day
(a just meal)
Everyone has
Such
An awful
Legacy to bear
Everyone
And in this
The colors run as indictment
Course
Through us
All
Anger everywhere
Too easy to lap
Up
And never were we dogs
(for
dogs are dogs)
Where is the justice of
The clean and swept
Not
Swept away
But cleaned as on which
We dance
And set up tables
Share the food
We brought and
Also
Made there
Plenty
The notion of plenty is
Assembled
And once and now again
All
Are welcome
To it
Now this would be a day and
Night
For all to come
To sing of
Our thanksgiving
And how we’ll share a world
To have a world
C L Couch
Photo by Ethan Currier on Unsplash
(column of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C, USA)
safety patrol
I’m not sure if I ever
got
the white sash or silver
badge
and I’m not sure the office ever
worked
to make us
safer
crossing the driveway at
the edge
of
the school
but I wanted these
‘cause they
were
cool
the folk
that is
who wore them
sometimes I clapped erasers outside
into
the air
you know
and not against the red bricks
of
the walls
but there was no cachet
in that
no creeping up the gradients
of
cool
like the rising numbers
on the hopscotch
that
I tried
sometimes
but for lack of balance
rarely
like
the cool quantity
ever won
c l couch
photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash
The Smallest Moves the Mountain
Faith like a mustard seed
Among
The smallest of the
Seeds
For
That distinction
Not
To say that faith is a small matter
But
To say that maybe it is nearly
Weightless in
A way
To believe in it
To take if on
Perhaps
It might be easy
Though the convert might struggle
Over time
And with the knees
At
The last
I mean
The start
C L Couch
(Matthew 17:20)
Photo by Gursewak Singh on Unsplash
The View You Know
Sun
Out front
Only afternoon out
Back
Both struggle
Not with each other
But
With gray
Black buildings
Black
Branches
Inside
Things are grayed as well
I could be reminded of ethical
Situations
But
It’s not school
I am
Nonplussed
Could use some learning to apply
To like
The gray
Maybe draw gray things
Try not
To think in gray
Until a situation might arise
Appreciate gray shadows
In the day
A gift
Close my eyes
Appreciate the fiery black inside
While I
Nap
Which seems
A gray thing to do
Maybe
I could try
To smell
Gray
To taste
As if from the air
To touch one of gray’s shadows
To listen
To
The words from gray
‘Cause
I could be missing out
On
A gray gospel
C L Couch
Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash
“In That Silent Mood” [given image title]
First and Last Resort
I pray
And maybe I don’t know how
There is the famous prayer
To pray
And I pray that
Though am prone to leave it
To formality
In
The attending crowd
But how about from
Me
To you
I can pray anything
I know
I can say anything
You hear
You love
Even forbear
And shall be disappointed
Even angry
Maybe even punishing
On this
Side
(like the claws on her back
in
The Horse and His Boy)
I now it’s not a trick
A puzzle
To get right
One
Way with all the right pieces won
As at a contest
Or a fair
Hit with the hammer to show
Enough strength
Water
The clown
‘Til the balloon above should
Pop
Not a
Competition
Not at all
Like
These
May I say
I love you
And I need you
Don’t know
How
But anyway
And will you help
Even teach
To love and need
The
Others’
And my own
And is it bifurcated
The other’s wish
And
Mine
Fate even
Direction
What is shared
And what must be
My own
Though God
I have been on my own
Enough
(and
maybe the other
has
or hasn’t)
How shall I pray for these
Except
To keep it simple
Even humble as in
Without the dross of vanity
For
Distraction
From what’s true
Like the
Unencumbered arrow
And the target
Might be
Resolution
Shot with grace
The arc toward the center
Near
Enough
Perhaps
Being a newbie always
So it seems
Even practiced
For I pray so much to you
And
Still it seems
I only start
And if we mean it
Should be good
Amen
C L Couch
Photo by Isabella Fischer on Unsplash
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