other occasions

the overwhelming
of Nepal and Tibet

I’m lucky

I’ve gone
under
and come up again

not floods but enveloped
by
loss of breath and
danger to
recover

with scars and fears
yet
still here to learn and to offer
and take in

love
as has been directed by
the second great commandment

water
mud
current
overwhelming gravity
and
by the water
land
and force to still the muscle
take the breath

deliver death like
an angel
painting lintels on a certain
night in Egypt

only this
was from a glacier
that
maybe was
maybe was not supposed to break
and
send the killing ice to water
down
to overwhelm

the hundreds found with
hundreds missing more

to all
a hopeful rescue
or
arrivals
tentative to check
in morgues
for those we might have known

and to know or fear from
missing

so much destroyed and what
remains
and what
to do

and prayer has power

so does money
so
too
does presence
and all work together
present

c l couch

photo by Sanjay Hona on Unsplash

NBC News
August 28, 2026, 7:37 AM EDT
• At least 547 people are dead after catastrophic flash floods Wednesday along the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet region, authorities in Nepal said.
• Hundreds of foreign tourists are among those who remain missing in the area, which is popular with trekkers and pilgrims. Rescue operations have resumed in both China and Nepal after they were briefly suspended amid fears of renewed flooding.
• In China, where a mudslide hit a land crossing between Nepal and Tibet’s Gyirong county, authorities said five people were dead and 558 others were missing, including 260 foreigners.
• The State Department says 90 Americans are unaccounted for in Nepal and China, while three have been rescued in Nepal. It said it was not aware of any U.S. deaths.
• The deadly torrent followed a glacial collapse in the Himalayan region, which is home to many of the world’s highest peaks and a high concentration of glaciers.

islands

I was put off
by use
of the word “Whorehouse”
in
the title

what do I know

liked her work in
9 to 5
and Rhinestone
and better works whose
names
I can’t recall

her commanding pitch in songs
her marriage on Earth
of
59 years
her
foundation sponsoring
as
in making possible
literacy around the world
starting
I guess
in Tennessee

her love of the South
and then
everywhere
and everything to love
and
everyone

music
gone from Earth

music
in heaven

Dolly Parton

clc

drafting right after reading

my brother Paul worked with her in music, theatre production

Dolly Parton @DollyParton
Global icon and humanitarian, Dolly Parton, known to the world as a beloved singer, songwriter, philanthropist, actress, playwright, and author died peacefully today in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80 years old.
. . .

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

el terremoto en Colombia

Colombia

the earthquake
most
of Richter

and all the earth with
all the fallen
and
crushed lives it
took

and in the news to know
but
to be there
and I can’t imagine
parts
or
the totality
of everything was lost

trying to help
to heal
and finally to restore so that there’s life
in this
and later there

something to know among survivors
that
we have the way of life
and
we’ve known
this way of
death

c l couch

HOPEWELL, Va. (WWBT) - Volunteers in Hopewell packed boxes of donated supplies Monday to send to Colombia, where a deadly earthquake struck last week.
The earthquake killed hundreds of people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Richmond-Petersburg WWBT

San José del Palmar, the town at the epicenter of Colombia’s earthquake: ‘We thought it was the end of the world’
The only route for delivering aid to the Chocó municipality is a mountainous, unstable road prone to landslides
EL PAÍS English

photo by Jimmy Woo on Unsplash

(later, same day)

the first post will have to stand; it’s too much in the system or cyberspace or something

so here's an entry for today, more accurate to the date; I hope the verse is all right with you

(please and thank you)

Thursday the Thirteenth

no big deal
walk under ladders
break
your mirrors
your
own

ignore the cats
which is to
say
be good to cats in the way you are
each day

and really don’t break mirrors
and be safe
with
ladders

and still be nice to cats
all cats

though no superstition holds
no
special degree of penalty or
reward for honoring
the small things
yet
with consequence
we might think
we should
believe

have a normal day
and
tomorrow will be a superstition-free Friday
the Fourteenth

and we may ask ourselves
if we
wish
today or tomorrow or later on
the weekend if
we should
wathc out any day regarding superstitions

though folklore has its place as well
as
an attitude of prevention

and a good with-care weekend to you
fates
and
more so
divinities allowing

c l couch

photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash

and I'm wrong--for some reason I thought today was Friday, and it's Thursday except maybe on a side of the Internation Dateline (though on Earth it will not be anywhere for now a Friday the thirteenth)

I'm not sure what exactly to do; ideally, I'll cancel this post and put in another--we'll see, stand by (please and thank you)

be kind to sable cats
and careful where the ladders are

my goodness
it’s a Friday the Thirteenth

and yesterday there was an eclipse
and we had the orange moon
and are having meteors
just now

so what do the heavens laid out by calendars
foretelling

to which the better reply might be
not a thing at least
for
those of us who do not know
who aren’t
practitioners but simply
live
as best we may

have the day
be nice
to cats
all colors

watch out for safety with our ladders
and try for practicality
not
to break mirrors
this concern a matter of safety
too

or to trip on cracks
which I know
I can do

and now I wonder if our
root concerns
for that category of cultural
life
you know
superstitions
does not
aim
to promote a preventiveness
regarding domestic peril
so
to avoid

well
in whatever way for
whatever
reason
I hope this is a good with-caution day for you
with
care at hand or close by
should something smally wounding
happen

good
safe weekend
too

c l couch

photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash

early to bed

so it’s another gray day
leaves bouncing
lightly
against the house and in a move
I don’t understand
there
has been some turning

one brilliant
tree I passed
just
the other day

I guess
maybe there’s a thirst
maybe a wish for a literal kind
of
cold comfort

maybe the green’s already tired
early August
in the north of east
and
yet it all seems out of time
though it isn’t
my time
to call at all

leaf-peeping
which sounds like a misdemeanor
might
come early to Pennsylvania

too
soon leaf’s-blood
come
sidling if not pouring out

with
a bright and subtle wish to notice
that the changes in our
climate
make
a difference

could be an occasion
of an invitation
only
with the big changes coming
closer to
when they should

a slight
note also to notice that it’s warmer
then
is should be
enhanced
by us
and what shall change

we drop the temperature
we burn finally
like
wildfires

or it’s an interpretation of
worldwide
a
nuclear winter

ongoing sounds pretty good for
ordinary against an
ending

c l couch

photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

	imnobodywhoareyou on the preacher
	Renate Wiseforward on days of silence
	imnobodywhoareyou on be kind to sable cats
	imnobodywhoareyou on the better wish
	Catherine Arcolio on early to bed

clcouch123

I talk you talk we'll talk

Category

the overwhelming

islands

birthday in Hobbiton

the crisis

el terremoto en Colombia

a hawk on the road

Thursday the Thirteenth

be kind to sable cats

early to bed

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