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distracted

(x = space)

x

x

distracted

x

in the concluding

of the service

we sang

in the hymn

behold his hands and side

and I stopped following

x

that’s hard

the hands and side were pierced

there was blood

out of its natural place

and it ran away

from the body,

stealing life

and we are to behold all this

x

it happens to others, too,

the bleeding

from a fall

from a blade

(the scalpel blade is good)

or from a bullet

or from shrapnel

or part of a car or truck

or other crash

and we can talk about

what missiles do

x

we release so much blood

and it becomes

the thief of life

x

what was Thomas thinking?

maybe he knew brutal living

and the dying

all too well

and didn’t mind the asking,

blood for proof

or the holes in hands

and mark of the spear

at least

x

was he chagrined?

he knew his master

and the following

restored

for everyone, as far as

Thomas might be concerned

and in euphoria

he might not have cared so much

about the scolding

because blessed are those who

don’t need such evidence

for proof

x

whatever

he was back

he was alive

the gruesome marks

the signs of blood,

blood now thwarted

in thievery

x

the marks he saw—and

did he touch as bid?—either way

concluded,

concluded

everything

x

c l couch

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photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

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the story of Thomas doubting is in the twentieth chapter of John’s gospel in the Christian New Testament

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Meet You at the Place by the Sign

(x = space)

x

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Meet You at the Place by the Sign

x

At the end

We find ourselves,

Which is why I do not understand

The quest

Yes, it must be in the journey

Why not take a journey?

Find an agent, first

x

We don’t want to kill a dragon

There are too few

We don’t really want the Arkenstone

Too hard to find a buyer for

Too much destruction

In the selling

Or the having

x

The map is fun

We’ll take the treasure map

Though we might have to earn

Some credibility

For display

x

Sigh, all right

We’ll go

Make our final preparations

In the evening

Leave in the morning

Our weariness shall be

The last convincing item

For the start

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

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Homely Revelation

(x = space)

x

x

Homely Revelation

(Psalm 19:2)

x

Maybe

It will start

On what we’d call

A clear, calm day

In fact, cerulean

x

The armies might be

Lined up, anyway

In the desert

x

On all borders

x

A day for maintenance,

Patrols

With no shots fired,

Nothing pointed launching

x

Mary out of blue

(cerulean)

Shedding all colors

For us

Might come first

With John and Michael,

All directing

That the fighters clear their vehicles

While things are peaceful,

Rather easy

Before a miracle

Of rust shall have the

Armor and the gears,

The nuclei of fuel

Returned to earth

x

Before a rain shall fall

That satisfies the thirsty

While frustrating

All the radar,

All the targeting procedures

x

Like the cartoon

In which the prey

Like a magician

Causes flowers to appear

Inside the muzzle

Of the hunter’s gun,

Children shall be

Fed and entertained while

Parousia take

The unexpected

And frustrating

Lack of determined war,

The crazy metaphors

Made real

That taught us for an age

To give us

Love and time

x

Frightening things

Might happen:

God’s arrival in

Healed flesh and sprit,

The judgment of the wicked,

Victory in nothing gained

But love’s perfection

x

Awful as in awesome,

These should be

Enough;

The day shall satisfy

As water and air cover

And fulfill

The valley before

Baucis and Philemon

And perfectly

The entire Earth

Of us

x

C L Couch

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Photo by Andrew Sterling on Unsplash

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The Magician’s Children

(x = space)

x

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The Magician’s Children

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Lately,

I’ve been seeing my face

In other faces

I look for a few moments

Sometimes stare

Then realize

I’m looking for

More signs of me

In you

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C L Couch

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Photo by Guillaume Bleyer on Unsplash

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Narrative for Veteran’s Day

(x = space)

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Narrative for Veteran’s Day

x

I hope the veterans

Have a good day today

They served

Time to be serving them

Certain restaurants

Will do that literally

(track the ads)

x

There was a draft

I was in school

A war for oil fomenting

As if primordial

Muck were heating

In the gulf

(not that war

in the gulf

or the next one)

There was an energy crisis

Hiding profits

x

I didn’t want to fight

For companies’ oil

But when on the application

I was asked

If there were anything I would fight for

I had to answer yes

And so ruin the deal for c-o

And the draft board changed

My status

(they won’t admit to punishment)

From 1-H to 1-A

x

Well, that war didn’t start

There were numbers

But no draft

I finished school

And then the next one

And with Watergate

Had reasons to feel bitter

Toward my government,

Which since then

Has become increasingly

Stupid and useless

x

But love of country

All the stickers

All the posters

The Bicentennial

If we forget who is in charge

There are superlative reasons

To be serving

And they have served

Time to be serving them

x

My brother

And my father

And my grandfathers

Came back

My friend Patricia

Returned, retired

A full colonel

x

There are those

The many, many those

Who did not return

And have their days

And who cannot remember them?

Anytime and every time

We should?

x

Red poppies will festoon

And sides of buildings carry

Words of verses

“In Flanders Fields”

And that is London today

Here there will be flowers, too,

And flags

And I hope everywhere

That she has served

And he

And they

And all the fields

Nourished by remembrance

With all the hopes

And wishful strategies

To change

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C L Couch

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carrying the burden of a nation

Photo by Joel Rivera-Camacho on Unsplash

U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, conduct vehicle recovery drills on Camp Pendleton, California, Apr. 6, 2021.The Marines of Motor Transportation Platoon pride themselves not only on their vehicles, but on each Marines’ hard work, dedication, and drive to excel in all they do.

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Fallbrook, United States

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Nicole

(x = space)

x

x

Nicole

x

Hammering the east side

(no hyperbole)

Working its way over now

To wreak havoc

Like the dogs of war

On the panhandle,

Then move north

x

We’ll get remnants

No one seems to care

Up here for here

(good)

But six hundred thousand people

Without power

How shall they do?

How shall they cook

And read

And watch TV

Manipulate keyboards and screens

And stay cool?

x

It’s still Florida, after all

x

What can we say

To habitual destruction

Only to build the same, again

And maybe many times?

x

I’ve not been there enough

(not enough)

To understand the charm

x

Their politics are weird

But I wish for them

Electricity,

Dry days

x

I could wish that

This would learn us all

Something of our neighbors,

Their catastrophes

That linger years

In loss and less than everything

In daily rise

And style

x

For now,

Floridians

We pray for you

Really for now

For all the wreckage

You must live through

And as they come

For fair winds

And following seas

And maybe for

A long, long while

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C L Couch

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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Any Day Now

(space = x)

x

x

Any Day Now

x

Sigh,

It’s Friday, Lord

I exhale into the day

Sunlit

Upon the floor

A cat might be happy

There

x

I can’t

Keep the news

In my head

I know it’s hard

Sometimes

There’s something good

To help the day

We’re breathing through

And gently taking from

x

Our cats and dogs

Upon our floors

And all the strays

We made

An age ago

And should take in

As well

x

All the causes

Everything that moves us

And should bind us,

The catastrophes

We should see each other

Through,

Which make us ready for

A triumph

x

C L Couch

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Photo by Matheus Queiroz on Unsplash

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haiku (3) after Hallowtide

(x = space)

x

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haiku (3) after Hallowtide

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seasons ending in

new seasons beginning to

take hold then let go

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x

red leaves like children

bright and shiny always changing

into something else

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x

evergreen until

needles wither due to lack

of water and air

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C L Couch

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Red of Fall

Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

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The Glass No Longer Darkly

(x = space)

x

x

The Glass No Longer Darkly

(for All Souls’ Day)

x

I’ve been too busy

With the living,

Not to praise that

Habit

x

The dead have frightened me

When they are active

With the living

Like the Twilight Zone episode

That used to scare me,

The one with the telephone line

Fallen against the grave

And the dead calling

A living relative

Or the one in the Old West

With the peddler selling

Magic to bring back

The family members

To the living

In a town

And then charged more

To keep the dead, dead

And they return,

Anyway

x

That sounds comic, I suppose

But the dead used to scare me

Not so much now

Experience, I guess

And a constructive belief

In afterlife

And the agenda of their own;

They will be busy,

After

x

The sacred and the secular

All Saints’ comes ‘round

It doesn’t have to be so somber

In fact, there will be picnics

By the graves

In Mexico

And elsewhere

Commemoration

Remembrance

By the families

Who know how to love

On either side

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C L Couch

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Fotografía de una calavera de azúcar, típica en México.

By Pedro Moga – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22536159

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