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today on maui

(x = space)

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today on maui

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it is a land on fire

not with the good kind of fire

the kind that warms

and cooks our food

but the kind that is too wild

that knows no limits

to itself

and destroys

and lives are lost

all fauna

and flora

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we can imagine one

it’s hard to imagine fifty-five

at a recent counting

and still counting

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there is great effort

herculean as a namesake

effort

and deserving

and should diana help us

search

for what remains

and maybe bring to safety

though deliverance

is due

to another god

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the first-responders

the Coast Guard

ships at sea and airplanes

from whomever

come to rescue

and to put out the fire

bound in once again

into our usefulness

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yes

we know this is

one place

and there are other places

yet energy

and intervention

for each place

and people

each person

as we learn who matters

still

which is each one

of course

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welcome those to heaven

breathe into those on Earth

everyone involved

in tragedy

to help

and to endure

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and to endure

so easily

is enough for now

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we can contain and count

it is an island

and it’s not enough

our attention there

or anywhere

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we do what we can

as we are moved

and as we move ourselves

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there is no ending

we go on

help us in our attentions

with grace when we come up short

for failing never is

the end

but to choose

to pray

to try again

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it is an island

we are islands

too

on this island earth

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c l couch

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photo by charlie harutaka on unsplash

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maui wildfires live updates: deaths rise to 93 with destroyed area only 3% searched

(bing, abc news)

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Closest Encounter

(x = space)

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Closest Encounter

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I should speak

To other causes

Though I’d say

Enough of us

Is cause enough

So I should delegate

Myself for planet Earth

This way

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Breath

Circulation

Stretching

Into life

And all this matters

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Yes, George Floyd matters

And all Black people

And all the other colors,

Too

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Partial or whole

We make a difference

Half of us in offices

It takes a moment to get used to

I have to say

While I push through

Suburban limitations

x

White bread

White meat

Tame salad

With acceptable spices

For dressing

Butter

Salt and pepper

I must change

And I have changed

x

The world is larger

And there are gems

Implanted and arising

From the hillsides

And the waters

The desert plains

And in the shapes of clouds

We guess the shapes

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So much more

You should have it

You should have it

With me

And all of us together

See

(hear

oyez),

I think we used to think

In our old movies

That when they land from outer space

To plant their flying structures

(now landing)

On our greens

That we would united at last

In friendship

Or to meet a foe

Depending on the form of great power

We encounter

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But these have been landing

For centuries

Our ancient art

And all our docs

(documents and documentaries)

Say so

And we have joined

No better

Than before

Than yesterday

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So we’ll have to do this on our own

Come together

Right now

Over me

Over you

Over a past’s destruction

And future interest

In rebuilding

Everyone

Who has a chance

And everyone

Should have a chance

x

Then they change

On meeting us

Once they have

The official,

Planetwide encounter

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Someone’s knockin’ at the door

Let’em in

Let us out

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C L Couch

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“Come Together,” John Lennon

“Let‘em In,” Paul McCartney

The Day the Earth Stood Still, movie from 1951 (remade in 2008), based on a 1940 science-fiction story

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(image by) Jiuguang Wang from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States – Gort on display at the Robot Hall of Fame, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27507986

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Bad Summer

(x = space)

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Bad Summer

(sorry)

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My summer

Began in surgery

I’ve been trying

To rise

Ever since

Not the first time

Or the last

(I’ll have battery replacements

at the least)

But this was unexpected

I tried to follow

Protocol

A ride in an ambulance

(I’ve received a bill)

And everything

Successful

I suppose

But the days have been heavy

Since

Heat and humidity

And climate change

Of course

(of course, it’s real)

Storms

And word of storms

And everywhere there’s war

Or natural fire

Fire

Flood

Thirst

And disease

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I know

I can’t make all burdens

My burden

And I pray for these

And mine

And hope each day

To be a little

Well

Lighter

Lighter steps

Easier breathing

In the practical

And meditative

Way

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And now it’s August

Fall is on its way

I hear

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C L Couch

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Photo by Kelsey He on Unsplash

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Measure Twice

(x = space)

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Measure Twice

(or thrice)

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Apologize twice

Once for God

Once for other people

And if you’re a polluter

Then

Once more for Earth

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C L Couch

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Photo by Bozhin Karaivanov on Unsplash

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Saint James

(x = space)

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Saint James

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That’s good

Now will you add some O-s with me?

That’s gooood

And now

That’s gooooooood

The gospel

The jazz

Making everything

That is

You know

So created

And insinuated

(maybe with

a little slide)

GOOOOOOOOOOD!

x

Then we may

In the

Genesis world

With its poets be

Saintly, too,

And who knows

Maybe

(maybe a little whispery

for humility)

gooooooooooood

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C L Couch

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saying, singing (playing) “The Creation” by James Weldon Johnson

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. . .

Then God smiled,
And the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said: That’s good!

. . .

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Photo by Leonard Alcira on Unsplash

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Maybe Start with Unaware Awareness

(x = space)

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Maybe Start with Unaware Awareness

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What is beauty

Who knows

Who knows

And decides

No one

But someone

Something

Qualities

We say

Evening gown

Swimsuit

Answers to questions

And the talent part

And then scholarships

We hop

We hope

x

Well

Consider the pot

That has fallen

And is broken

And the Japanese

Shall with skill

And wisdom

Apply gold

To the broken parts

In making

A new whole

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And where is the beauty

In the original

The brokenness

The healing

New beauty

And new usefulness

x

Or is it in the day

That no one else has made

But there is water

There is sky

And for ground for continents

Coasts and mountains

Plains between

The piedmont

Where we learn to climb

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Who made this

And

Let’s have it

Anyway

(determinism later)

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Let’s dance

Because we don’t how

And take a lifetime

Uncertain

And uncertain

To learn

And to allow for pleasure

In first steps

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And is there truth in beauty

Sure

Why not

There is also play

And we can argue

If we know no better

Our of ignorance

An argument

To articulate

We can’t article

x

And keep in mind

What is frozen

On the urn

And in the text

Is movement

A celebration

And reminder

About moving

Celebrating

Playing

Working

(the potter must have worked hard)

All to say

To have

That there is beauty

There is truth

There is your mother

There is your child

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Order disorder

If we must

Or if we must

Leave it go

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C L Couch

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“Ode on a Grecian Urn,” John Keats

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by Valerie McGlinchey, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9977409

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trinitarian

(x = space)

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trinitarian

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nothing shall separate us

from the love of God

which is a promise

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so why do we feel differently

why do we shirk

why does doubt work so well

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we can say that it’s a sin

that it’s a fallen world

well enough

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but faith and love are so attractive

and so active

why back away

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there is the world

the match of us that says

none of it’s real

x

that real is flesh and metal

while evidence of faith and love

has neither

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invisibility

dark glass

land of shadows

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these are what we have for proof

and means of proof

all of which is unconvincing

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peace passing understanding

but it’s understanding

that we need

x

and will not get it

unadulterated

by the hard means of the world

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a world we feel

a world we have

and must live in for now

x

and for an age

after the Anthropocene

and afterward

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who knows

and that is it

who knows

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promises as metaphors

streets of transparent gold

advocacy always in our favor

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should we choose

and we must choose

from lack of evidence

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we choose

and we do

and we believe

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crops are promised

in our seasons

wonderful abstracts

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turned real

and that is it

it’s all turned real

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faith

hope

and love

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a Celtic knot

tied and loose

three parts everywhere

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God

Earth

and us

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c l couch

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nothing shall separate us from the love of God

romans 8:38-39

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5,000 year-old triskelion on an orthostat at newgrange

by young shanahan – https://www.flickr.com/photos/youngshanahan/10644977574/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110911537

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Piglet and Samwise

(x = space)

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Piglet and Samwise

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Piglet and Samwise

Would that

We could

Only think on them

To be them

Or to appreciate

Steadfast

Companions

And companionship

So close to us

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They’re smart

Don’t miss that

They’re clever

Too

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Sometimes they carry

Oh

So much

And are capacious

To take on our burdens

Too

x

They trim the verge

They stir the honey

In the pot

For consistency

Well

Of verge

And pot

Or rather

What’s inside

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They have their homes

But leave them gladly

To find us

And then to journey

With us

When

They reach us

And we tell them

Or somehow we know

We’re moving on

x

You’re leaving

Then

We’re going with you

To the other side of the wood

Or through

Minas Morgul

Into Mordor

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Like grace

They will go far with us

Wishing to go

The entirety

Of the calling

To adventure

x

And maybe they will

Or maybe there’s a part

We’ll have to go on

All our own

And then

To meet them later

(with success)

Someday to consider

Final matters

(then)

x

And in the mean time

There are parties

And there is

Conversation

On paths

Off the paths

On bridges

Inside when there are storms

Outside

After

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Christopher Robin once

Said about his mother

Than when she left their home

To wander round

(that is, around)

The hundred-acre wood

Christopher had asked

Would she like him

To go with her?

x

She said no

But when I return

Greet me as if

I had been gone

A long

Long

Time

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Maybe we always have

Such friends

As heroes or companions

Recalling

We are both

To each other

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C L Couch

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Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
“Pooh!” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”

― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

(cited at or by GoodReads)

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Piglet, as you know, is the companion to Winnie the Pooh.  Samwise (Gamgee) is the gardener and companion to Frodo Baggins, the bearer of the ring in The Lord of the Rings.  Each separately or both together was or were mentioned in a sermon that I heard today.  I’m sorry I don’t remember why.  Jesus had companions, too, though that was not the pastor’s point (or they were not his points).

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The story of Christopher Robin and his mother is told in The Enchanted Places, an autobiography.

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Photo by Arwin Neil Baichoo on Unsplash

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The Advocate

(x = space)

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The Advocate

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What shall we say

But that God loves us

Anyway

We will be judged

And all the  rest

All we fear

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But our doctrine

Represents reality

For there

Will be an advocate

Like a lawyer

Pro bono for love

To stand for us

With something better

Than our fear

Our guilt

Could understand

x

Something that works

To save us

Anyway

Through lack of evidence

Or character

Reports

But for love of us

That we reached out for

Just a smidgeon

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Was enough

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C L Couch

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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