and do we teach or simply learn to learn
clear
and clean
the page
well
add some “enter”
spaces
and go on
and what shall I
say cleanly
what is clean
and what
is clear
clear-headedness
we say
we don’t say
clear-heartedness
so much
well
maybe not at all
‘til now
and maybe
neither
is achievable
maybe
reality
keeps something of
complexity
even the fog
that moves between
the pieces
making questionable connections
because
there’s synapse
circulation
and
what shall we say
a web made out of
heartstrings
sigh
and there are
other things
the messages
and wearing off
of institutions
nearby
somewhere
and what
we might become
and freedom
calls
like bird-calls
(made by birds)
such as
the lonely
sadly
call of loons
out of the morning mist
both over water
and there are loves
other
attachments
we are both with
that we choose
that come to us
through reading
conversation
or some other
leading dialogue
like Socrates
we set
as our own method
or influenced by
the schools
of everything
we have attended
attending
also meaning
service
as in waiting
and there is waiting
as in
we wait for something
after we rise
and while we work
we look around
with every sense
we count
and cannot count
for we don’t understand
anything like
totality
of learning
and retention
and also of
discovery
that flows between the banks
of stultification on one side
creative shouting on the other
with places
to pull over
though we don’t set these
and must wait
for certain rituals
to hear them
see them
and take up
our crafts of exploration
for a while
it’s like we’re on the move
and consider cells
that are in movement
all the time
the turn of Earth
and the ringed nature
of the cosmos
also with
the turn of us
through moments
and through years
and just the same
the stillness
that we have
is honest
when we choose that hour
wish for that style
to achieve
and then to practice
with a kind
(with lapses)
of lasting
ever
I can stop for now
the part of me that stops
that is
that pauses
and refreshes
like a soda-pop
or tapas
with sangria
bread and wine
for ritual
and meaning
on our own
and especially
in community
because
alone is not so hopeful
as in useful
for philosophy
so write with me
and talk
and
yes
talk among yourselves
for there’s not test
and is no cheating
not for this
the examination
of a universe
of
circled possibilities
and
yes
we’re on our own
also together
don’t forget
c l couch
photo by Mackenzie Marco on Unsplash
Theology for Anyone
Too many things
To think about
What is
Simply
Out there
Anymore
What might be simple
First
In here
And show the way
The poet
(I have mentioned this)
Taught me about the Amish
Person
Who was asked
Are you saved to heaven
To which
The faithful person said
I hope so
Not doubting so much
As to be humble
And to be prodded
All the time
To serve
And remember who is
Served
And what did
Jesus say
About the sheep
But
You may come in
For helping me
Because
I was the thirsty
And the naked
And the lonely
While you goats
(poor goats
for a metaphor)
Must stay outside
And go to
Frankly
An awful place
Or maybe
Nothing
Philosophically
Simply enough
Perhaps
That is
Live well
And for each other
And who is my neighbor
But
Anyone in
Need
While we have the means
And typically we have
To use
Help each other
Which I guess means
Take the help
As well
Simple enough
C L Couch
(Matthew 25:31–46)
Photo by Nandhu Kumar on Unsplash
help the goats, too
How to Go to the New World
(either way)
I still don’t know what
To say to you
Today
I mean
This is me
And I don’t know
Not knowing
Words
And something of their use
Often
Re-rendered
When conscripted
Into verse
Or let the message
Be a branch
Or bird
Inside the tree
Or something of the sun
Through clouds
Below
Leaving a gospel
In a shadow
But something new
Or affirming
Something old
Or even ancient
Like virtue
And its complement
Of rules
We take for argument
From Greeks
Who took things
From Egyptians
Then both subsumed
By Rome
And so
What’s happening
In Asia
All the while
And then the holy
And the Roman
Christians
Establish empire
Where for eons
There had been those
Who fought
And
Dwelled
Expanded and
Diminished
On their own
To have the only world
They knew
And it was vast
More than enough
Until the white gods
Came
The devils
To deceive us
A whole world
For its varied understanding
Of
The way things go
And on another side
How seasons
Turn
To go another way
And so subvert
The growing year
Of Gregory
So much
So many
To have touched
On so few
And in one time
And so
Move forward
When complexities
Are
Rife with
Differences
Agendas
Styles
And signals
Of the fear of the unknown
Toward other people
In the shadows
From our light
Whose singularity
Makes others
Fearsome in the dark
That we have made
Much darker
Not
To behold
Their part
In the same light
We could tone down ourselves
And so inquire
Of the ones
We do not know
But could
In openness
And inquiry
The way we learned research
In school
Before the grown-ups interests
And fear for profit
Took us over
We could learn to love
The differences
As might have been
Our first impressions
When meeting
As children
Invested by impulse
With curiosity
And let the world change
With our acquaintance
Let everyone be different
Just a little
For having met
With outstretched hand
Empty for introduction
While the other hand
At our side
Is open
Too
With honesty
Allowed to gain
Through inquiry
And
Once permitted
Exploration
C L Couch
Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash
small salvation
I haven’t spoken yet
to God
today
and yet that isn’t
true
God was with me
in the sip
and the blue light
atop
the small appliance
and in the swirl
that’s favored in the northern hemisphere
within the sink
as I was washing
out the cup
after
honestly
some days
and God was with me
in the steps I took
when
rising
finding slippers
sloughing
in a poor arc
toward the kitchen sink
and God was with me
in the dream
I had
I can’t recall
and in the moments after
while another
set up
like reels
in a matinee
the kind I went
to
long ago
but is that companionship
the same
as talking
to you
I don’t know
there is certainly
the ministry of presence
and do I offer
that
in each small thing
that I do
or that happens
anyway
except
you know
I think there are
words
I think I know it’s you
at least sometimes
and say
something maybe
in my sleep
and when I arch my back
to rise
and greet the morning
with
a groan
or with a sigh
or with nothing
but let’s get
to the
coffee
don’t you know
I’m saying something
all the time
and I believe
I’m even listening
as I think was established
in
the correspondence
of the
conversations
first read in
Genesis
and all the chapters
since then
which led to my interest
with encouragement
from breezes
and vistas
to make words of
and start
having conversations
with
the Lord
and you rose
from the book
to become
real
talkable
hearable
in my transactions
and receptions of
the rings and all vibrations
in the cosmos
inside
my head
of vanities
and my heart
of
brokenness
you are there
I hear you
I respond
we talk our day through
all the cues
and actual words
and
I hope
there is telepathy
in exchange
with the divine
and with
your angels and your saints
and all things
glorious
that I encounter
in such small ways
in a day
in a life
that’s not important
save you made it
and
speaking of
have saved it many times
not
through faith
or doctrine
but through miracles
I cannot count
because I do not know
how often you have
rescued me
from evil
from myself
from all the apathy
the world would rather have
on
everyone
for better exploitation
uncounted grace
salvation after choosing you
and hearing you
in everything
and
really you
throughout the day
and when
the night
is blank
and terrible
I should remember
the same
presence in
the light
and all the glory
small for me
to fit
that also saves the world
all the time
however many times
we need
until infinity
be sated
c l couch
photo by Ricky Kharawala on Unsplash
(I should promise a haiku for tomorrow)
a portrait
1
weird stuff today
not crap
but honest words
inside
made into visioning
a way to read
to see
to hear
witches
and ghosts attend
here is something
for your spells
that comes
quite honestly
against the grain
out of the fire
of unusual thought
and destination
for spirit-care
away from regular thought
even away
from the
machine
2
I think Joyce had
a plot
maybe an outline
that enforced
provided banks
at least
for one side of the stream
that it might roll
and also
tell the story
desired
the story that we say
had no beginning
or no end
save the luck of covers
but then a passage
would be honest
rising above
the paltry things we know
moving away
like riders to the sea
epiphany
on either side
then movement
into daytime
and the quieting
genius
after “Araby”
at night
3
now I have coffee
all the colonial thieving
now fair-trade
it’s bitterness
it stains my teeth
it also helps
with my heartwork
and also
headaches
so I’ve read
so I like
to believe
I washed a dish
and made a noise
am I allowed
am I allowed
(I ask for litany)
something so normal
and a normal
life that was eluded
I eluded
for so long
the good family
mobile family
taken from me
while I was afraid
to move
to move
at all
and so I’ve slid
sloughed says my friend
from place to place
a modicum of gumption
rented
like the truck
(that broke down)
for the moving day
the vegetarian thing
again
but I have memories
of burgers from the grill
roast beef
wreathed with vegetables
from the oven
even corned beef and cabbage
on Saint Patrick’s
which I’ve not seen since
the food
or such a green
a day
hark
it is two bells
not for sailor’s time
but from the phone
maybe reminding me
I have a heart test
in a couple of hours
taking blood
again
my veins
it seems
acting tired
recalcitrant
to give the protein up
and all the cells
of all the colors
(some that change
with oxygen)
not wanting
to disclose
for tests
anymore
4
and while there’s wood for
furniture
and while there’s hope
in love that’s
set upon
the cushions
and the wood
metal beneath
or on the floor
while
passion
knows no bounds
beyond the flesh
and spirit
in between
I’ll play the art
it seems
from which
so far
I haven’t earned a time
in fact
paid for
the time that I have here
and while I have it
but things
are precious
aren’t they
sometimes our deciding
which is which
as in
do you remember
this is our special place
this will be
our song
and so it goes
with lovers
and with friendships
of all kinds
with the bad place
and season
too
too bad to recall
but there it is
is it a balance
I don’t think so
as good will out
and bad
descend to its own
nothingness
so
too
will memory
not deceive
but prioritize
what matters most
upon the porch
in recall
C L Couch
Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
call me crazy
call me late for dinner
I’ll be writing
over here
a little chappy-book of poems
Anyday Fog
Fog
Fog today
A Dickensian lesson
(get started
on Bleak House)
To know
That like the existence
And the movement of the fog
There is connection
Between all of us
Regardless of economy
Or privilege
Or barriers
Presumed
That as far as the single race goes on
Do not stand
Aloof
We are connected
That is the way of things
Do not forget
But relish in it
The reality
And all the possibilities
Together
Or stay apart
Behind our barriers
So-called
To let the fog move
Inimically
Exuding fear and guilt
As we forbid ourselves from
Seeing
(without eyes)
And acknowledging each other
The fog connection
Irony
For there it is
Well
Then let
The better lesson of
The real thing
To a greater thing
Take over
All our humanhood
That should lower unnecessary things
In the way
Then let in
The light
(more than light)
Too Easy
Blindness
Blindness chosen
Not the sense
But the lifestyle
Even
A cause
That in the dark
We shall strike
And have our way
Forgetting
(among other things)
The anthologized
“Dover Beach” that
First-year students
Are foisted
To read
With the “ignorant armies”
In the night
That clash
Who wins
Who loses
No one knows
Except that blows are struck
And there is wounding
And humanity destroyed
By degree
Those who are blind
For real
Know the sacrifice
And the ridiculousness
In selecting darkness as
The quality
For sight
And shall we choose
To be ignorant of each other
Shall we fight
From distances too great
To know much beyond
The switch
Or the button
We could draw near each other
Rather
Withholding our destroying
Part
To leave the great part
Of curiosity
And even peace
Let go
Learn who is my neighbor
On the planet
How might the Earth do better
If we re-trained ourselves
For nature
The greater challenge
To
Like military
Pull back the extremes
To repair
Then prepare
For what’s next
To know
Who is next door
Not to pry
Or lord
Or anything overlording
Or pervasive
To learn each other
As we are
Even the agendas
Learning how to speak
To listen more
And to understand
(lessons in language
might be
the first thing)
Allowing curiosity
To be positive regard
Respect
The better agenda
Knowing which virtues to use
To influence
And which to use to
Be changed by
As we grow
In and with
Those we have relegated to
The other
As an objective distinction
(no such thing)
To render targets
Rather
Than people
Simply put
Do not destroy the world
That’s rather stupid
But put down the guns
(the buttons and the switches)
Find food
And drink
And other fixing things
With which
To approach
Nourish
And give the world
What is the real
Fighting chance
Family Game Night
(we can do it)
No one wins
No one loses
Leave that to
Real games
And remember to embrace
Congratulate
Game-winners
While in the world
We do better
With nothing like a game
At stake
But how we live
Together
Make enough
The base for everyone
Then all we reach for
After that
In other words
Feed everyone
Because
We can do it
(Rosie
says
we can)
Provide everyone
With something safe
To drink
Shelter and the opportunity
For education
Of ourselves
And the world
The unpeated past
The glories in the present
(let science say
amen)
Maybe
Remembering
The God who made
Everything
Is waiting
Withholding Armageddon
‘Til there’s faith
In the outcome
For those who choose
To care
And believe
In the world
And the living
Selves
And neighbors
It’s simply
Really
Embrace good
Eschew evil
Learning the two
More how to build
Rather than
Destroy
It’s easy
Each can prosper
After all are well
In fact
Prosperity
Will grow
While all are fed
And drinked
Have shelter
And the means
For education
Will the problems end
No way
But we’ll have a go
With advancements and
With possibilities
Which is
The world growing
Which is how it was
And how
It should be
By us
Eden
With the walls let down
The best Eden we can make
Yes
For billions
Living well
And each other
Has a chance
To go from there
To growth
To gold
Whatever might seem good
Without extremes
Of anarchy or monarchy
Rule one by one
And by assembly
Which is how
The world’s growing
(at its best)
Anyway
Grow on
Absent Lion
(not that there’s climate change)
Well
Winter’s MidAtlantic
Ended
Seventy
In western parts
So where’s
The lion
Seems not
To have arrived
There’s always
Aslan
For always good
A sign
Of faithfulness
And power
In faithfulness
There are other lions
Some as
Metaphors
Others in fact
Don’t go
To meet upfront
The real ones
For their strength
Is in
Predation
It’s the qualities
And made-up stuff
That make
The lion
Useful
(leave the real ones
out there)
As we can make
The lamb
Render its own qualities
For our own good
And at least
In these parts
Earlier
In March
What’s Blue Is Blue
Maybe this is all
I can do
For now
Write against the blue
Until
The retinas
And other parts can’t take it
Then leave
The machine alone
And even
Wonder
How we do this
All
The time
Go see
The eye doctor
Maybe she
Will know
What is healthy
What is useful
What is
Disciplined
For health and
Productivity
To ease the headaches
And the
Stress
Maybe from blues
Though maybe
I need to play the blues
C L Couch
Photo by Vestfoldmuseene on Unsplash
Manic Monday
(and don’t panic)
God sang
The song into creation
The lion did as much
And our holy words
In works
Imply
We are created
We are that song
Or its interpretation
In darkness
And in light
And the bestowal
Of a garden
With the first object lesson
For the teachers
That the garden
Stands
For something we
No longer have
While we must work
In labor
And in labor
For
What we got
Each era is a lesson
We could say
And maybe they progress
The human ages
Which is why
We say
They’re ages
(we get older)
We grow
Some
We adapt
Physically
Some
Though not as much
As one might think
For as long as we’ve
Been here
And this might not be
So much by us
As by
The touch of God
God knowing
We’ll need adaptive parts
As we go on
(grow on)
What do I know
It’s Monday
And I’m feeling existential
With the blues on electric pages
Making less sense
To me
(than could it be
our music style)
Than paper
With its white
And off-white
Receiving of
Our pen strokes
Painting
With black ink
C L Couch
[note to me and now to us
so what’s this poem about?—it’s about thinking and writing, yes, really about both]
I am having trouble with the blue lights on computers. Or the part of the lights that are blue. Or maybe feeling blue. I think it’s both.
The result is that I’m even more recalcitrant in using this thing. This vital thing. I’ve had to use it for a while then rest my eyes. Rest my eyes upon the rest of the world.
So if I’m worse about responding than is typical (and typically it can be pretty bad), then I’m sorry. But as the emperor said quite uselessly, there it is.
--Christopher
Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash
Nous existons. Vraiment.
Who Wins, What Is the Prize
The devil never sleeps
And I’m not sure
That’s so
Do angels sleep
Do persons in the Trinity
Maybe
Take turns
Or shifts of angels
And of demons
Unless the boss of all
Infernos
Demands no rest
For its agents
Or agencies
That must be busy
In corruptions
And
Winning souls for hell
Which is
Backward evangelism
Though real enough
In goading
Forces for
An Armageddon
C L Couch
Photo by National Library of Scotland on Unsplash
Westmarch
sometimes I wish
I were a
well-to-do hobbit
except for
the living
in the ground
even a comfort-home
in there
would aggravate
most likely
claustrophobia
as being carried by
an eagle
would invoke
the other
unreasoned fear I have
but still
to have a day
to write a book
of my adventures
having had
adventures
first
and to have tea
close at hand
with cakes
and at a table
by the window
with my pens
(all right
computer)
and paper
at my side
and on which
I write
(well
type)
and maybe to have
friends
who come to call
for friendly reasons
only
I hear their stories
while
I also think
on dragons
Dwarves
and Elves
and wistfully
believe
I should be somewhere else
with them
c l couch
photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash
clcouch123 
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