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in a glorious church

(x = space)

x

x

in a glorious church

x

look at you

Jesus

on such an ornate cross

we don’t truck

with indignity

or even

execution

you’re still alive

up there

though as you die

you die for us

x

rude cross

more like it

wooden beams

thick branches

off the trees

of the Earth

we say the nails were iron

ongoing execution business

for a smith

with earthly metals

coal to burn

or pieces of wood

cut off

shaved off

something like the matter

of a cross

x

c l couch

x

x

Photo by Michael Newcomb on Unsplash

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I don’t mean to be a spoilsport about faith and faith art; I do think spiritual simplicity might be important

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Since we built the church, there were pewter candlesticks upon the altar; Francis Nurse made them, y’know, and a sweeter hand never touched the metal. But Parris came, and for twenty weeks he preached nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them. I labor the earth from dawn of day to blink of night, and I tell you true, when I look to heaven and see my money glaring at his elbows – it hurt my prayer, sir, it hurt my prayer. I think, sometimes, the man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin’ houses.

John Proctor

The Crucible

Act 2

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Plain

(x = space)

x

x

Plain

x

Sigh

It’s Friday morning

We’re told

The heat is crested

So low 90s today

Which still is hard

For those of us

From here

Above equators

(there are two

you know

tell Ecuador)

And the tropic lines

x

We’ll breathe into Saturday

Be grateful

When it rains

Maybe too much

But they will break

The drought

As well

x

And these are

My

And our

Issues

Over here

How is it where you are

How is your health

And your family

How is your neighborhood

And any community wider

You are

Or must be part of

x

I am perforce

American

Though America is huge

And we tend to take the name

And then apply it

To one part

x

You are French

Or Nigerian

Or Indian

Chinese

From idealized Tibet

From Ukraine

From Russia

x

You might be from the South

Or the Northwest

Or the Northeast

Maybe all the way up

(we say)

To Maine

Maybe you know

Or encounter at the supermarket

Stephen King

x

These are places

In the USA

In France

You have

The Côte d’Azur

In Greece

Santorini for an island

(that might have been the home

of Atlantis)

In Egypt

The upper Nile

Into Ethiopia

That was Nubia

In China

There’s the Gobi

The severest place on Earth

x

And there are the people

We are people

There

x

Inhabitants of the world

The team of Earth

One people

Now we’re leaving it

And shall need identity

x

Should we live in peace

Appreciating our diversity

All

The shapes and sizes

In our making

And our choosing

The lives we have

That is

The lives we make

x

And we should make them well

And have the freedom

To do so

Too direct

Too easy

Maybe

x

But too bad to be good

Sometimes it’s easy

Put it down

The weapons

And the prejudice

Evil conditioning

Perhaps

Somewhere inside

Take up something better

Food to share

Safe water

The love of life

You know

That someone else

A group perhaps

Might need

x

C L Couch

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Photo by Yuriy Bogdanov on Unsplash

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But I Couldn’t Wait

(x = space)

x

x

But I Couldn’t Wait

x

What do you need today

And shall you have a good day

Well

I hope so

Our heatwave indicates

It’s peaked

And now is rolling slowly

In a gradual decline

With something like a cold front

Following

Bless the Gulf

Bless Canada

x

It is September

Not so much left

To the year

But there shall be autumn

First

The colors in the east

First in the north

Wind and rain

Shall be cool

And cold

Clouds might roll over

In long banks

Enormous curves of gray

And of walking under

Layers

While trees are beautiful

School buses are bright yellow

A somberness arrives

As that season finishes

And sentinels

The next

When much of nature

Shall be sleeping for a while

x

Those days are off

A while

It’s very hot today

The sky conflicted

Between blue and clouds

The kind of clouds

That augur the last of warmth

In rain

For summer

x

The Lord watch over you today

Even better than at Mizpah

Which I was taught

Was mostly civil

Might we do better

With agendas

And without them

May we simply listen

And respond because we’re kind

Allowing ourselves to be suspended

In belief

And the tension

Of knowing

How it is with you

Because we want you well

Honestly

With more

x

C L Couch

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Photo by Trif Razvan on Unsplash

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1

Kg

(x = space)

x

x

Kg

x

Everyone has

Secrets

I suppose

Given time

I have mine

They feel lonely

Though I imagine

There are always

Other people

At least

The other ones

Affected

x

But it feels lonely

All the same

And even though

They might

Go back

They feel aged

As if I could only

Have such things

When I

Am old

Or as any

Age this way

With more time

For wondering

x

The circumstances

Have passed

Mostly long ago

And that’s something

Maybe an ingredient

For

A recipe

For eating isolation

x

Enticed

To tell

Is an easier thing

To forego

Some weariness

In life

Makes it so

x

That I

Don’t want to

Realize the energy

And

All the pain up high

Again

And then

As it drops through

Me

x

Maybe

Rolling then

Sliding

To the deep and

As you know

The darker parts

Of Freudian-

Or Jungian-

Chemicaled water

To push through

Or tread

In bouts

For endurance

Again

x

I will say this

That

When reminded

What I carry

That I could lose

All secrets

In the light

And lose

All these

Damnable burdens

Sounds pretty good

Sounds pretty

Light

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Frank Zhang on Unsplash

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The Flying Mouse

(x = space)

x

x

The Flying Mouse

x

It’s supposed to be

Hot today

The next two days better

Maybe I’ll stay in the dark

Enjoy the cool

If only the idea

Of shadows

x

Why do bats like

The night?

Clearer for navigation?

The flying mouse

(the fledermaus)

Small and fast

They startle us

Though I doubt

Each other

x

We should be on

The side of bats

Peer mammals

Who eat lesser (sorry)

Things

We would more rather

Not have around

And so be less infested

Thank you

Stellaluna

x

It’s supposed to be hot

Today

I’ll think I’ll stay inside

In the dark

Light up this screen alone

In bouts

To keep some strain

Off my eyes

The ones that see

The ears that hear

That taste

You know

The doctrine

Taste and see

x

They have wings

And are we jealous?

I hope not

It’s not their fault

And they fly

With small glories

To the Lord

x

C L Couch

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Stellaluna (moonstar?) is a story by Janell Cannon.

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Photo by René Riegal on Unsplash

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I started out begrudgingly, more of an exercise.  Then as I got into it, I liked it more.  I enjoyed drafting and revising this.  And I like the image from Australia.  You, of course, don’t have to like any of it.  I’ll still think highly of you.

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Heartfelt

(x = space)

x

x

Heartfelt

x

I haven’t slept

My computer wants to update

I won’t let it

I don’t want that now

I want to sleep

The sun is rising

I can see the V from here

(the angle

in the tree)

x

Words

Thoughts

Fears

Then turn it off

And try again to sleep

I can’t do anything today

No appointments

Only analgesics

Lack of sleep

And eating when I rise

Each time

Which sounds like fun

And passes time

But is stupid

Really

x

I’ve had this diagnostic guess

That the insomnia

Is made worse

By indigestion

Not to mention sinus problems

And

You know

Having a heart that functions

Normally for someone

Twenty years older than I am

x

Sigh

Rest

Better food

At better times

Maybe Mediterranean

Easy exercise

In pleasant ambient air

And the air at night

To move and not move

In optimal

Waves and bouts

x

Who else has these diagnostics

Who else is going through this

There is no

Lone wolf in nature

I need my pack

Something for the herd instinct

Foraging

With accountability

x

Lord

Don’t leave me alone

Company for misery

If no more

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Linda Kazares on Unsplash

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2

God in the World

(x = space)

x

x

God in the World

x

It’s got the whole world

In its hands

x

Maybe the song sounds badly

With

Impersonal pronouns

But as we know

Loath to admit

God is more than he

There is the she of God

As well as all the lively

If impersonal

Attributes

x

I doubt that God is male

In the wind

Though ancients saw that differently

Or that the rain is she

In my mythology

I have to admit that is attractive

(Sister Moon and Brother Sun

you know)

But really

If God is in anything

Then God is everything

In everything

x

Neither east nor west

As the apostle says

And well-chosen

In that

These are adversarial directions

Rome and Judea

Europe with the USA

And adversarially

Russia

China

Other parts of Asia

x

Presuming a meridian

x

Even then

Even now

But God then

God now

x

And this is the reach

Of God

To all directions

(if compassism)

All genders

All creeds

And attitudes

Everything divided

God cannot take the borders in

But sees the unity

Instead

x

For even God is biased

Love

Like gravity

Toward matter

x

C L Couch

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“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” an African-American spiritual

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Galatians 4:28; Romans 8:35-39

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Canticle of Saint Francis

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Photo by Lydia Gulinkina on Unsplash

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And All That

(x = space)

x

x

And All That

x

There is cool

For heat

I am lucky

I have family

I have friends

I know I spend

My days alone

Which is belied

By your company

You are with me

It’s not a story

Well

It is

But the story

Explains the truth

Even the myth

That’s founded on

The truth

Of something larger

Than ourselves

That we wish to

Know

And so

Sometimes in clarity

Sometimes in mist

I have you with me

From the inside

Out

From the center fold

In me

Out through the pages

Into sunlit

Cloud-lit

Night-lit

Illumination

It’s always like as mask

I guess

Like the dark glass

A purple panel

That even should we leave

The cave

Goes with us

A pretty barrier

Maybe raised by sin

Maybe to challenge

Virtue

Well

You’re with me

I know that

And I am thankful

I am thankful for my sister

Too

My brothers

And my friends

Grateful for the lack

Of desolation

With all that livingly

Is set

Upon it

Knowledge

Insight

Discovery

A growing column

Always with

A hook for that dark glass

Yet rising toward the others

And toward you

Thank you

For being God

And Christ

And Spirit

More than doctrinaire

You save my soul

Without the rites

Though rites are good

As well

Vital esprit de corps

And all that

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

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1

Federation

(x = space)

x

x

Federation

x

I pass patches

Of cultivated farmland

x

I trust there’s more

Of these

From coast to coast

x

Though we pay farmers

Not to grow

In the way

The OPEC caps (quite literally)

Distribution

x

These and other things

Manipulate the

Market

x

Have done so

For decades

If not ages

(thinking the Romans were

at least among

the first

to play with supply

and prices

and inflation)

x

Sigh

x

I wish we had a market

Based on need

As well as pleasure

And for profit

x

Everyone needs food

x

Everyone needs means

For acquisition

And so on

x

Everyone must work

I’d go for that

But everyone is each one

With aptitudes

And what might be considered

Limitations

Though we should think

Uniqueness

x

Well

Captain Kirk might be right

In that

There might be no money

In the twenty-third

Century

x

An age for which

We have decided meeting

Human need

Is a galactic

Law

And providing means

For training

Toward discovering

And realizing

Talents

x

Also dreams

Magellanic

Or quite

Homely

x

Art

x

Manufacturing

x

Philosophy

x

Blacksmithing

x

All be done

Out of desire

And ability

And help

x

The way we help

Or should

Our children grow

x

And so

Our galaxy shall grow

x

C L Couch

x

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Photo by Danny Lines on Unsplash

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