Lent

2 poems kind of about brokenness (sorry)


2 poems kind of about brokenness (sorry)


When the Circle’s Not Unbroken

The Lord
Invites us
To the circle
Or the square
Or something oblong
Maybe
Rhomboid

To something
Maybe broken
For design
Or due to
Some experience
That seems
To break up everything

Fear
And anger
Breaking out
Without
The lines
To keep it in
To keep what might be loved
Therein

Though love remains
In the fragments
The Lord
Cares for us in these

And if the situation
Backs in
From extreme
The parts
Maybe come together
In a new shape
If partial
While we gesture
Talk
And work on fixing
For a while

Call it prayer
Call it Bible study
Call it therapy
Or medication

Every means
That helps
In measured
Dosage
And discretion

‘Til something like
Our circle
Even as
Something else
Shall come together

Maybe with a new
Amen


March on Two Left Feet
(or right)

The fifth already
Seems like
March is
The right name

The lion hasn’t really
Come
Though are there hints
Of lambs
Is a fair question

It’s in-between
A kind of academic
Purgatory
While the sky
And Earth
Decide
To fix the things
From winter
Into spring

We hope
The flowers undeceived
The planting happen
In its own
Good timing
That might have to change
Or not
Should good-guessing be required
By planters
Of all kinds

Who typically
Are breathing through
Northeastern cold
While waiting
For green seasons
To begin


C L Couch

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

March 5, 2024 0

Manic Monday

Manic Monday
(and don’t panic)

God sang
The song into creation

The lion did as much
And our holy words
In works
Imply

We are created

We are that song
Or its interpretation
In darkness
And in light
And the bestowal
Of a garden

With the first object lesson
For the teachers
That the garden
Stands
For something we
No longer have
While we must work
In labor
And in labor
For
What we got

Each era is a lesson
We could say
And maybe they progress
The human ages
Which is why
We say
They’re ages

(we get older)

We grow
Some

We adapt
Physically
Some
Though not as much
As one might think
For as long as we’ve
Been here

And this might not be
So much by us
As by
The touch of God

God knowing
We’ll need adaptive parts
As we go on
(grow on)

What do I know
It’s Monday
And I’m feeling existential

With the blues on electric pages
Making less sense
To me
(than could it be
our music style)
Than paper
With its white
And off-white
Receiving of
Our pen strokes
Painting
With black ink

C L Couch

[note to me and now to us
so what’s this poem about?—it’s about thinking and writing, yes, really about both]

I am having trouble with the blue lights on computers. Or the part of the lights that are blue. Or maybe feeling blue. I think it’s both.
The result is that I’m even more recalcitrant in using this thing. This vital thing. I’ve had to use it for a while then rest my eyes. Rest my eyes upon the rest of the world.
So if I’m worse about responding than is typical (and typically it can be pretty bad), then I’m sorry. But as the emperor said quite uselessly, there it is.
--Christopher

Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash

Nous existons. Vraiment.

March 4, 2024 1

Lift


Lift
(the congregation sings)

Humble sign
Of
Ordinary execution
Ancient
Egyptian
Means
And then Roman

One by one by one
And two
We make this cross
Depict it
Empty
Or with Jesus on it

C L Couch


Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash

March 3, 2024 0

Ancient of Days


Ancient of Days

God
As God
Requires
That we love God
With our minds
With our hearts
With our souls
And that
We love our neighbors
As ourselves
Which does mean
Self-love
Must be in there
Too

It isn’t a request
It is a command
From God
First command
Second command
At least as Deuteronomy
And Jesus
Has arranged
What we are told
To do

I know we see all this
As optional
As if God required less
Than the military
Or our bosses
Or out contracts
Though these came first
And do not change
With rank
Or a new job

It is a
God who commands
For whom blood was required
And a nation follow
Or be brought down
Be outcast
By the power of
Worldly forces
That won the day
Because the people had
Abandoned
God
And faith
And certainly
Obedience

It all seems ancient
Irrelevant
And at best
Relative
Doesn’t it
We moderns do not live
This way
We don’t fret over altars
Or unblemished offerings
Not of animals
And certainly not
Ourselves

We take the dross of doctrine
Leave the rest
Inside the book
Inside the church or temple
That we enter and exit
Now and then
Even weekly
Without doubt for holidays
Yes
Without doubt
This year

God loves
God waits
God invites
God doesn’t require
Fancy dress
Or best behavior
God love us as we are
Wants no change
Might wait for deathbeds
For confessions
And an
Affirmation
Guaranteeing heaven

Or God’s our pal
And pals don’t leave other pals
Out in the dark
The rain
By the gate
That we’re sure will open for us
God’s our pal

The dross of doctrine
Looks
Behavior
What we give
Whom we serve
Tangential faith
Appreciation for the invitation
Please stand by

The modern spiritual life
Lukewarm at best
And it seems
God doesn’t cotton to
Lukewarm

Or bits of this or that
That might be good
If only by
Our arguments
Or statements
To the press
Or whoever might be listening
In the mirror

We’ll get around to God
Perhaps
The way God is
And what God wants

After work
And after home
And after neighborhood
Relations
Maybe during vacation
Or really
After
Maybe when we’re there
And hear a sermon
We could instead
Think about what God wants
Think in our own way
Decide
In our own way
Maybe after entertainment

And by the way
For a show I pay with some money
In the plate
This should all be more
Impressive
Than it is

On my own
I might do better
Find better
Maybe I don’t have to come back
So much

A touch of religion
Less of faith
Nothing like
The mind
The heart
The spirit
After all
Faith is not that smart
It’s not material
Enough
It doesn’t admire
What I do
And what I have
Enough
And I don’t see faith
Changing wars
Or floods
Or earthquakes
After all

And how did people
Used to believe
With dead animals on altars
No
Thank you

I’ll take life as it is
As it’s progressed
As it’s civilized
With all the medicines
And the technology
With the better weapons on our side
How relevant
Is a faith in God
How necessary

Children know what to do
They have Mister Rogers
Sesame Street
And everything else
Approved
For their good growth
They are healthy
I’m sure

And if not all of them
Well
They were slipped through
The loop
Somehow
And that’s too bad

But most of them are fine
As most of us are fine
What more
Can we want

And God
Well
God
An invitation
Well
That’s nice
Maybe when I’m older
Have less to do
Fewer things
To worry over
Figure out
Make plans for

Yes
Then I’ll have time
Really to think about
Religion
And what a God
Might really want
That I could give
I’ll have less money then
But I’ll time
Yes
I’ll have time
To give you

That’s all right
Isn’t it
I mean
You’re a loving God
Which means your patient
Right
You’ll give me all the time
I need

C L Couch


Photo by WILLIAN REIS on Unsplash

February 18, 2024 0

long season


long season

(means lengthen)


day of ash

season of thought

also season of service

and of

sacrifice

though all seasons behoove



today

ash on foreheads

ash made

from last year’s palms

and might look like a cross

for a while



then those who say

sorry

you have dirt

on your face

I thought you’d want

to know



c l couch





photo by Randy Laybourne on Unsplash

February 14, 2024 1

annunce

(x = space)

annunce

do not be afraid

it said

how not to be afraid

before an angel

calling

might have been a good

lesson

from my mother

I bring you

good news

but I am betrothed to

a good person

and

the families

are not in conflict

what need have I

for

further prizes

you shall bear a son

not by Joseph

but by

the Spirit of God

pause

well

pause

what will they say

what will he

believe

am I being offered

something

may I say no

I know the fall

of Eve

was from will

to know the truth

of good and evil

and I hope

I know the truth

at least enough to

decide

I shall say

yes

what other answer

to an angel

and my Lord

and if it was foregone

then

I will risk

divine trickery

or naivety

to choose

and then to say

yes

angel

yes

to God

as it is

I know I risk

sanction

and refusal

doubt

and rejection

and if there is reason

these reactions are

reasonable

but I will

go with God

and go to Joseph

and to

mother

father

and shall hope

and in hope

prepare for motherhood

as a complex surprise

in my youth

rejoice

O young woman

in thy appointed youth

pause

rejoice

c l couch

Ecclesiastes 11:9 (ASV)

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Photo by Bartosz Kwitkowski on Unsplash

July 24, 2023 0