Search

clcouch123

I talk you talk we'll talk

Open Search
Category

other occasions

poem published in Edge of Humanity Magazine

The Shape And Change Of Things

Hi,

Above is a headline for a link plus an excerpt for a poem of mine published recently in Edge of Humanity Magazine. I find their works creative and timely. There is text and other artwork featured. A feast of media, as it were (as it is).

I am grateful to Joelcy Kay, Editor and Curator of Edge of Humanity Magazine. The home page for the magazine is at www.edgeofhumanity.com.

Thanks so much for looking and for reading. I hope each of you is having a fine Tuesday (or fine Wednesday soon in other parts).

Christopher

9

disseasonability


disseasonability



an easy winter

brutal summer

heat

in exchange for

the snow

fair exchange?

there is romance

in the snow

yes

and peril, too

but do we forget

(speaking in January)

that

there is danger

in the high heat,

too

not to mention

polar ice shelves

sliding into

sea

exposing land

which is interesting

though

in fact

we are losing our cool

so to say

and for real



the Earth is heating

and we need

the heat

and shall we forget

we need the cold

as well



sorry

we’re not halfway

keep talking winter

in the northern world

at least

and maybe ask

down south

how the summer’s

doing



c l couch





photo by Liana S on Unsplash
0

day of remembrance


yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and so the following is for this day and any day we remember something larger than ourselves that still involves our responsibility in happiness or sadness to enact




day of remembrance



yesterday was for remembrance

each day is for remembrance

and recall

together

with poppies

or monuments of angles

the ceremonies we create

over what has happened

so we might remember

and not

as Santayana says

doom ourselves

to repetition

of the dire

and destructive



take it slowly on these days

don’t rush to something else

the prophet margin

will remain

in the margins

a call of justice

that is heard

might mediate

with all the other worldly matters

all our loves

the good things

the distracting things

that sometimes we must order

like new things

especially through

our days of remembrance



c l couch





photo by Pete Nuij on Unsplash
1

gifted


gifted



I’d like to give you each

a present

though I’m poor

and not the kind of poverty

that saints admire

for I have little

mystic understanding

and what I have

is tied

to nothing like

how much

how little

I have



I’d like to say

go slowly

as the Buddhists

say

especially

when parting



I’d like to say

remember all your loves

made up of

reason

practicality

and balance

not that passion

doesn’t count

	it does

but there should be a measure

in most things

of what is right

and what is easy

(like

Jack’s pieces

well

maybe not so much)



which is

(really)

to say

let all good things

have their place

and do not rearrange

from the heaven

of creation

and the philosophy

inside all things made



for there is

certainty

as well as confusion

the way this world works

and don’t deny

the sure things

that you

and others

who are smart

and might be trusted

might ally



I’d like to say

think God

(like another movie)

though I know

that’s not enough

or I could say

love

and let love

not frilly silly

(‘til the day)

but steady

and trustworthy

have its say

and guide

however trite it sounds

each day



I guess

some things are cliché

like the way we use

iconic

meaning not a symbol

but celebrity



believe

and love

so common

(a cliché)

and yet maybe

we can still ourselves

and our sophistications

to accept

that some things

important things

the most important things

are commonplace

no secrets

no requirements

but to accept

what is instilled

(installed

as it were)

within internal palaces

or offices

or bungalows

(I’ll take a wooded cabin)

in the mind

in what we call the heart

in what really is

the spirit



might be

an alliance of the spirits

one by one

within

between

our groups

our nations

for an errant world

on its quest

our quest

to grow

to acquire

and to save



good things

and we could have rituals

and easiness

(not mindlessness)

in what passes

from the Earth of now

into

the next

of now



c l couch





photo by Luca Pennacchioni on Unsplash
0

Nothing to Fear


Nothing to Fear



Will there be judgment

Well

Yes

Call it karma

Call it rapture

Call it the inexorable

Next thing



It will happen

As it happen

(que será

dust

in the wind)

What kind of trial

What kind of judge

What kind

Of advocate



Who stands for us

Well

It might be

That there are favored

On both sides

As the devil rides

Against our case

More than angelic

Might be those

Who argue

For us

Love

And grace

Criteria

And means



So we may say

Here

And now

Faith wins

That costs us nothing

But

Regains our souls

As if the first tragedies

Had not occurred

(though

they had)

And we are returned to God

From which

We came

Though not

Never

Without a saving story

Close at hand



Heaven

Might not be our own

Though an open door

Receive us

Forgive us

Justify us

For what has little literal matter here

But matters most

In there

And from there

Through the cosmos

Like black space

And all the wonders in between

Not to deny itself

As well

As black amazement



C L Couch





Photo by NASA on Unsplash
0

Paucity, Plenty


Paucity



Yesterday

It dispensed easily

Like rain

Let go

From a swollen cloud

I had slept some

And daylight seemed

A welcome thing

And writing

Something natural

Instinctive

Like a salutary

Habit



Today it is forced

Word by word

Even choice in syllables

Certainly hopping

Around

Like bunnies

Or like joeys

Seeking mamas

Or small plants

While I seek

Themes

For nourishment



And all of us

Hunt space from predators



Something holy

Set apart

Something measured

Dispensing peaceful portions

Something with color and

With shape

That is also moving

Changing

Like diversity

Itself

As a

Kaleidoscopic offering

Without round lines

Bounding

Even



Weight presses down

Maybe I’ll try again

To sleep

The light is not inviting

Though it’s pretty

But pretty

Enervating

Too

Doze off a while

Maybe

For dreams enough

To help me when

I’m waking

And I’m doing this

Again



Z on

Dream on





Plenty



God help us all

This day

I know God will

The form

Is mystery

The timing

But God is good

Many say

That God is great

God is a spirit

God is love

To move us ‘round

And give us our

Discretion

Honest mystery

To treat us

As we matter

With everyone

And it’s everyone

Everything that’s made

That matters



C L Couch





Photo by Amer Alhalawani on Unsplash

half moon mid of the day

New River Beach, NB, Canada
1

Worth Keeping


Worth Keeping



I keep

Thinking

About

War

And war-like things

Like drugs in trade

And

Trafficking



Because one life

Is worthy

Even intensely

And intensely

Valuable

And who are we

To say

We’ll keep this one

Let that one

Go

By paperwork

The gold slip by

Aghast

Or sigh

For boredom

In our sins

We’ll bank another

Somewhere

Else

Conquer

Or imprison

Until

Or while

Each of us is caught



The flesh

For opportunity

Whatever else

Inside

Stays in the boxes

Where we keep

Supplies

Aside

To keep us going



Yet each

Might be a savior

No

You’re wrong

None of us

Shall save

Or even aid

To saving

Through an invention

Or a discourse

To change minds

Toward

New understanding

For a race



To have

To change

For the better

As we could have said

Even

Fantastically
To say
And have



Amazing

Opportunity


If we let each one go

To growth

And with assists

And then so much

Better

For a life

Not an investment for

Money

And for blood



Let each one

Live

Who came into this world

As we say

And say

By mortal hands

And by the Lord

As promises

To planets

And to galaxies

Home

And away



And for each other

One

Two

Keep going

Make a world

And then another one

Worth keeping



C L Couch





Photo by Aman Chaturvedi on Unsplash

2

God Buy Ye


God Buy Ye



God be with you

‘Til we meet again



As God is with you

Now

Which is to say

With us

And a hope

Therefore

For company

As you go upon the Earth

And through the

Changeable

Sometimes trap-laden

Population



God with you

God with me

If I may say

And certainly with us

Mine

And yours



Better than Mizpah

Certainly

More so

When Moses met the king

With the stone heart



More like near the rock

In fact

Where water

Leaped to save us

Or like Galilee

Where thousands met

To hear

The saving word



God keep you

And us

Even through

Maybe a long time

‘Til

We meet again



C L Couch





God buy ye, a Medieval understanding of salvation (paying a condemnation’s ransom with the coin that was Christ’s life); God be with ye a wish for spiritual company and comfort for a friend; all becomes Goodbye


though ironically I say hello from Pittsburgh where I was brought through cold, some snow to arrive; I get another car here, since mine was totaled (no one hurt except some cars), which is technically the main thing; I get to visit with some family, which is the real thing


hoping your winter days (or summer to the south) are grand,

God be with ye,

Christopher
1

space ranger God


space ranger God



so many

science-fiction futures

read sad to me

yet

maybe I know

why

because they are nearly

always

God-less

the meaning not mentioned

much less

taking part

in new creations

and inventions

comforting

again

our flaws

but gladdened by

the progress

humans make



it might be hard

to craft

too difficult

in fact

since we must invent

our future

stake our hold on it

come disaster

or a clean and silver form

of paradise



and how to say

there’s God in this

that God

pushed us in the spacecraft

that brought the first

to a new world



we instead

must

try to own

and have such bid for ownership

tested

and tried

by what we find

or whom we find



there



toward a final tempering

of us

that accommodates the cosmos

for the differences

we find



to mesh with them

at last

who we are



perhaps we fear

the role

of God would spoil the story

(the real story

too)

and so we play out

only ourselves

on new

planetary stages

and all the things that fly

between



smallest things

(like mustard seeds)

or

parsec-sized things



God might bide

at the launching pad

or well behind

like farewelling parents

waving kerchiefs

allowing tears

for those who leave

we shall not see

again



though

in fact

God sees

and might see toward the end

of our expansion age

how we have done

and what we’ve done

to be here



there might be

judgment following

of our accounting

then decisions

regarding more dimensions

multi-universes

to encounter



encounter serving as

the theme

maybe the most important theme

in sci-fi

and for all the real findings

it inspires



c l couch





Spaceship Earth

photo by Ronald Yang on Unsplash
0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑