Search

clcouch123

I talk you talk we'll talk

Open Search
Category

Liturgies

poor disguise

poor disguise

when you don’t get what you want
or what you need
does God still
listen
does God still
love

if so
then why did we not get what we need
some would say
because I didn’t make it and bank it
then it didn’t matter
some would say
because
God
does not love me or like me
or no longer listens to me
for
I must be bad
certainly asking for bad things
even those things might be
my parent’s health
my child’s health
health
in the world
my own

why are we wrong
why does God not like me
and
some would say
I know the answer
and if you follow me
you’ll
know

and this becomes a lion in a skin
Aslan-fakery
the spirit that is tested and it fails
and
still is followed

and there will be a hand
and
it might not be ours
but it will formulate and re-formulate
according to the truth reminded
that
hadn’t changed
and doesn’t
which is justice then
mercy
and the best notion of freedom we are going to have

and what happens to false prophets
sometimes they are whomped on
sometimes
they run away
and
it’s a better day for the retaining faithful

and as for pain
we might have to own it
or
go through it
for a while
and it
will hurt
and I’m uncertain why

and would not wish that for you

it doesn’t
teach us to appreciate the positive
but
it might
teach us
something hopeful
after
or even in the middle

c l couch

photo by Bret Lama on Unsplash

the lion (fake/real) story is in The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis

0

I think Jane wanted to do something

I think Jane wanted to do something

remember
or
why would we
except I
do
of
Dick and Jane
with Spot and Puff
and
I guess Mom and
Dad

and they wanted to do things
but had to be smart
about these
and most things worked out
well
I think

and it was maybe to cite
the Think and
Do
program
and franchise for each district

and I guess that was
all right
except that Dick and Jane were awfully white
or
graphically blank but if with Anglo
features

and were they Protestant
as
was expected by the WASPs
in charge

could they be
Jewish
or Muslim
or Catholic or
agnostic

and Nancy Drew
fought crime after church
first
church on Sundays

and these were mentors
I suppose
from school where I was frantic
or home after
the reading chair where and when there’d been
some peace
and
to
get by
acceptably with freedom
if to feel
in summers only

then the next grade to fear
and to endure
unless investing
in
indifference

you know
too cool for school
and
forgetting what I might have learned

fright
then
or ennui
and could we not do better
serving us

and
not
to say that family doesn’t matter
for the dog and cat
and the whole family
needing care

maybe
adding what’s added
anyway
in the world for
faith
and reconstructed families
with
all the colors and the shapes
that Peter Max
elicited
and all the variations in the world
allow and by which keep
teaching for
our
learning

where and
how
Dick and Jane and with all names
to learn

c l couch

photo by Tianlei Wu on Unsplash
“meet my boi”

0

undeferred

undeferred

maybe the universe
is better noise
except for that half hour from heaven

otherwise
a harmony
of spheres

of cubes
planes on or off axis
axes
and
dimensions

better when we’re talking
even better when
we’re singing

that is
anything by way of music
mountains as instruments
moons as notes
on staffs of
interplanetary compositions

let dreaming become
utterance
instantly encouraged

no deferring here
or there
at first
at last

c l couch

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?

. . .

—Langston Hughes

photo by Benjamin Chambon on Unsplash

so far, the line-spacing remains uniform, no matter how I’d like to separate the elements on the page (and it seems I’m needing to reformat often, part or all, sigh)

0

depth and breadth and height

depth and breadth and height
prompt by her Sonnet 43

why do you love us

you could count
the ways

you love our flaws

you love what’s good about us
too

you love what we are
and what we’re not
in
what we want
and parsing what we want
by
perfect virtue

who we are
by you
by us
even by how the world has shaped us

you love healing us
when wills align

and in the end
to
take us home
where you won’t love us less
but there will be more

c l couch

photo by Mohamed B. on Unsplash

the poetry format is still not working right by WordPress; I can load lines but not spaces between lines, sigh

0

need and pleasure

need and pleasure

those whose hunger and thirst
are dire
deserve food and
drink
and a balance for the body

I guess after need is met
I mean for
everyone
with food allowed there might come preference
and
pleasure

so that we have fun in the feast
once life secured

know I might rest
knowing the other might
sleep
as well
satisfied
perhaps in every way

though that could take another sermon

c l couch

Romans 14
15 If your brother or sister is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let your good be slandered. 17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

(the preaching this morning was based on this chapter–the verse above being my response, not the preaching in the service)

photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash

(WordPress continues not respecting the poetry format; I reached out and got a response promising a response–shall I be glad A-I can’t solve this?)

0

God’s approval

God’s approval

how do we deal
knowing
that it’s coming
that
it’s here
and mostly by ignoring
it would seem
though
approval is a form of love
and maybe
there’s forbearance
too

c l couch


photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash


as for the WordPress poetry function, it continues awry; I've end-run around paragraphed lines I didn't ask for, and maybe that will work for now
0

the crisis

the crisis

sigh
too much
too
hard
and we feel this way
because it is
this way
so
that we could rest in the Lord
in part
while working out our muscles
and our worry just
over
the edge of crisis
as
to serve by job
of need
maybe because we are there
is all

c l couch


photo by Reid Naaykens on Unsplash

0

the patch of blue

the patch of blue

while
I was driving and I guess the clouds were breaking up
if
only for a while and in the middle
well
I saw it

pale
set against the gray
and ringed by
white

all
uncertain ‘round the edges

as the afternoon became
a thoughtful
season

c l couch


photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash

0

the preacher

the preacher

could I walk by the side of the sea
near a rise where
folk
are gathering
to hear him speak again
about
beatitudes
and humble righteousness that might be in reach
not as the leaders of religion
and politics
dictate
but as God set the relationship to start and
even flawed or fallen
should apply

not easy words
always
to hear him
but
what’s shared is for us for us
to try

then I suppose he will
leave again
as he
does as if he’s tired
and we press on him
it’s true

as if there were no end to his miracles
and teaching
and
how these go together but
he must depart
and
I think I understand

he’ll walk away with closer followers
or get in a boat that’s tethered
near
and the miracle goes on
amazement it must be
to be so close
away or
with the multitude

c l couch


photo by Micah Camper on Unsplash
Capernaum, Israel

1

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑