Search

clcouch123

I talk you talk we'll talk

Open Search
Category

other occasions

Five through the Ocean’s Gate

(x = space)

x

x

Five through the Ocean’s Gate

x

I shirk

From contemplating this

I love the water

Love the ocean

Love the walk along a portion

Of its rim

At early morning

x

I’ve never been out far

No cruise

Or transatlantic anything

To look out

At waves without horizon

When there is the slightest haze

Along our edges

As if the clouds

Were now

Rimless warnings

Of an endless

World

Along the top

Let alone to think about

Below

x

They are there now

It seems

Their bodies

Anyway

They died in that below

Circuitous to

The wreck of all the wrecks

One of the sisters

Whose names were too large

A hubris

For an invitation

From the trickster gods

x

Five of them

Five of us

Someday officialdom

Will offer numbers with

Technical reasons

For us outside

The families

Conclusion

So we can move on

To other stories

To think about them

Once a year

Perhaps

x

Exploration

Research

Play

All are valid reasons

Human reasons

To go down

Into the blue

Though without expectation

I imagine

That there would be

No returning

x

Sorry

For your loss

We must do better

Say it months from now

And years

With meaning

And with safer

Measures

Though adventure

Is a chance

And cannot change

From that

x

C L Couch

x

x

Missing Titanic Sub Crew Killed after “Catastrophic Implosion”

Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Rob Picheta, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Matt Meyer, Tori B. Powell, Mareen Chowdhury

https://www.cnn.com/americas/live-news/titanic-missing-sub-oceangate-06-22-23/index.html

x

Photo by Inés Álvarez Fdez on Unsplash

x

1

thank goodness and gravity we don’t feel the spin

(x = space)

x

x

thank goodness and gravity we don’t feel the spin

(8:50-something a.m. EDT, USA)

x

in two hours or so

will be the solstice

if it were dark

I’d set a fire

though I could set a fire

now

well,

no, I can’t

because I don’t have

a place out back

or a permit for a park,

which wouldn’t work

because

there is a burning ban

just now

‘til there be much more rain

than we’ve had

of late

x

the Earth will turn

and tilt

start to tilt the other way

and in the south

we’ll move from winter

into spring

while up here

it shall

we know

be summer

and then fall

it’s hot and humid now

I once asked a Southerner

From Tennessee

(USA)

how Southerners

(thinking

in my Southernness

I had missed the lesson,

somehow)

how said

Southerners

cope with heat

and humidity

that are year-round

possibilities

x

said she

one thing,

air-conditioning

x

happy solstice

relative to the equator

whichever way the Earth

shall tilt

for you

for us

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by scott webb on Unsplash

x

1

tomorrow is Juneteenth

(x = space)

x

x

today is Father’s Day in the USA, and I wish happiness for fathers; since I have no earthly Father anymore (and for some time) and got to thinking about tomorrow; and not stopping in thinking about tomorrow, I offer this

x

x

tomorrow is Juneteenth

x

tomorrow is Juneteenth

when in Texas slaves

no longer slaves

and who were never slaves

by the will

that was creation

nonetheless are told

they are no longer slaves

and by legislation

for two years

or so

x

you are free

but they knew that

they knew there was an enemy

that kept them down

that weighed the legs and feet

upon stolen ground

to earn crops

for another’s coffer

(boxes in the bank)

they knew

they would rise

they knew this sometimes

on occasion

while chains and fields

and white men’s whips

beat another message

upon backs

of backs and faces

on the legs

that did the work

that carried wealth

to a master

who was not a master

or an owner

but for thieving

against God

and integrity

who cared not for blood

that spilled on blossoms

as long as they looked white

in the sacks

x

such evil

Lord

and why did you allow it

why is our will

so important

that we are enabled

to grab weapons

to split human hides

to take the rest from Africa

stuffed like oranges

in ships

to the infantile

and erstwhile

USA

and late give up the practice

through a war

a reckoning

for what all of us knew

was wrong

was evil

x

we cannot imagine

who were not there

though at least

we may tell stories

and send messages

through generations

to the future

x

do not do this again

live a kind of sorry

if need be

and if recompense

be needed

well them

pay it

from those boxes

of the profiteers

whose gold inside

still shines

still funds

still mocks

the rest of us

for color

and all colors

x

let freedom ring

we hear

well

let it ring

ring bells

ring all we have

that makes a message

and response

with decibels as words

that say

yes freedom

we must have it

we must try it

we must make it known

to all the Earth

and all the worlds beyond

and all the worlds

that are inside

and all the worlds

that we must share

x

c l couch

x

x

Photo by Wasil Ahammed on Unsplash

x

2

Going Outside on My Own after Hospital

(x = space)

x

x

Going Outside on My Own after Hospital

x

Today there is a fair

Happening down the street

I could go out

To see it, hear it, taste it

Certainly to smell it

Shall I go?

x

A Prufrockian kind

Of consideration

Except I’ve been in hospital

(as the English say

without an article)

And I’m still sore

And I’m tired

And I don’t know if the twinges

I feel

Mean something

x

The cool of the morning

Now would be

The time to go

x

x

C L Couch

x

Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash

x

1

Go for These Days

(x = space)

x

x

Go for These Days

(Flag Day)

x

Aw

Today is Flag Day

And Mitzi’s birthday

The flags are flown

My dad did that

While we

Placed crepe paper through

The spokes

Of our bicycles

More of a deal on

Memorial Day

But that was past

And we had

Supplies

x

We’ve had

The different flags

I liked Betsy Ross well enough

Though to question her

Is fine

About the Stars and Stripes

Story

As long as we don’t excoriate

It seems

That no matter what

She was a patriot

x

See

I believe

In these stupid things

Don’t Tread on Me

Soaring Fort McHenry

Semper Fidelis

I think

They speak

To birth and to progress

Of a nation

Of this nation

x

And it’s Mitzi’s birthday

She was our dog

And faithful

At it

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

x

1

sun ascending blue

(x = space)

x

x

sun ascending blue

(haiku)

x

sun ascending blue

into gray imagining

a turn in fortune

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by jack levick on unsplash

x

2

The Redness of Alerts

(x = space)

x

x

The Redness of Alerts

x

I don’t know what comes next

Another heart attack

Ambulance

Lights without sirens

The sky at a glimpse filled with

Canadian fire smoke

Inside

To a small place

And then a bigger place

And then a bigger place

In which to operation

I dozed

I don’t think they talked to me

That was all for each other

Then I’m back upstairs

And in that second bigger place

I picked at food

I was glad I was allowed

To have ice chips

Then water

Then water itself

(such progress)

All the nitroglycerin meant

Emergency relief for my heart

And a worsening headache

Via the pills and paste

I tried to eat

I will feel rather nauseous

So much blood drawn

And bandages all over

Wires

Machine noises

Through pretty quiet

After all

Nursing staff

Aids

Doctors

Tripartite

And a visitor

Who would take me away

When allowed

I got my orders

Plans for the days to come

New medications

Consultations

It started in the middle of the night

Now three nights later

I am back

There were those who prayed for me

I am grateful

I prayed for me

Too

New parts

New repair work

Like an old car

The aptness of a metaphor

I am fixed

No warrantee

But let’s keep hoping

Shall we

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

x

3

Wars that Cannot End All Wars

(x = space)

x

x

Wars that Cannot End All Wars

(on D-Day citing Second, other wars)

x

I can’t imagine

All the dead and dying on

That day

I won’t see or hear

Private Ryan

(or

by the way

Titanic)

I’ve known some injury and

Death

From crashes and

From cancer

The

Suicides

By people I have known

x

Sardined into a craft and then

The craft

By planes above

Or guns on shore

Explodes

On its way

To shore

Or those who leave

The boats

And are cut down

Unused guns

Held

Grenades

At hand

x

By the numbers the

Campaign

Was successful

In that the Allies

Overwhelmed the beaches

Finally

Finally

The parts once come together

A hold by hand

As far as

The living and the dead can

Hold

A military grasp

On the edge of Europe

x

A return

As when

MacArthur would return

An axis away

To the Philippines

x

Military plans

And executions

When it’s

Time

We go

x

Citizen expectations

Change

The accepted loss

In Desert Storm

Was zero

(under two

hundred

died)

Though we lingered

In Afghanistan through

Presidents

The war on terror

By the numbers

And at home

x

These were their homes

The beaches

On into

Farms and towns

War anymore

Is always a home

Matter

Your home

Or mine

x

Imagine that

And live it in

Ukraine

And all the burning places

That could be called

Without PR

Sites

Homes

For war

x

Trenches

Chlorine gas

Same place

Years before

That is

France

Greater numbers next

Nuclear

Numbers

In Japan

Winning

Losing

Graves attest

x

Mostly

We try

Nowadays

To keep all of it conventional

Though there are strategies

And plans

That

We must hope

Stay shelved

Recalling

Greater victory is peace

Living on

These same places

This

Same planet

After

x

C L Couch

x

x

6 June 1944

x

as soon as I realized the date there was a Western (admittedly) instinctive resonance—that something enormous, consequential happened on this date when it was a day a long time ago

x

Photo by Eric HOARAU on Unsplash

Le Tréport, France

x

0

Many Deaths in India All at Once

(x = space)

x

x

Many Deaths in India All at Once

x

The electric signals

For the trains

Went wrong

Crash

Crash

Crash

Who knows how many times

And many died

And this means hundreds

Hundreds of people died

Because of this

And we who were not there

Will wonder briefly

About trains

Except we’ll keep them

And make more

Like bullets

That carry us

From guns

Which is fine

Trains are better for us

x

Pages and pages

Filled

All the names of the dead

How many names

Did each one carry

I have three

And you

And I’m still here

We are here

I’m dancing ‘round

The tragedy

Because I can’t make the math

Turn into people

x

I saw one photograph

Tracks and smoke

The right side went dark

There were the bodies

I suppose

Parts of trains

Yes

But unmechanical

Blood and organs

Separated flesh

With all the spirits gone

Released by death

In horror

Nothing like timorous gentility

In age or temerity

Of faith

x

What time for prayer

Seconds to turn

And turn

And turn

Challenge to our consciousness

Our bodies thrown

Moments of discomfort

Injury

Where are our own

Then silence

Even while

The fire of earth

Rage on

x

And we shall rage

And wonder

About planners

Admin. Folk

Even inventors

And

Yes

We have logistics

Everything to deal with

After

Which is us

And now

x

We’ll keep ourselves

We’ll try to keep the earth

And these

Close by

Until way over here

By tomorrow

Maybe tomorrow

x

One life

Let’s save one life

Over this

Then do that

Hundreds of times

Everyone

Everywhere

x

C L Couch

x

x

Despair and Anguish Stalk Hospitals as India Reels from Devastating Train Crash

Story by Ivan Watson • 2h ago

(CNN)

x

‘I Am Haunted by It’: Survivors of Deadly Train Crash in India Recount Trauma

by Krutika Pathis and Rish Lekhi

5 June 2023, 6:29 a.m.

(Time)

x

Photo by Ashwini Chaudhary(Monty) on Unsplash

x

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑