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The A T

(x = space)

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The A T

(from Maine to Georgia)

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The trail goes

Uphill and down

Around big cities,

I imagine,

Nearer to small towns

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There is a station

Near me,

Which must be

A welcome sight

To trail-goers

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I should

Go in sometime,

Though I’m

Not qualified

Having only walked

The trail

For an hour or so

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I doubt

There are brandy kegs

Or Saint Bernards

To go with them

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There might be

Maps,

Maybe words

Of encouragement

Left by other hikers,

Other errants,

Other pilgrims

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Who wanted to

Accomplish something

Or own some

Really long spells

For thinking

Or simply

Had to take

A long, long walk

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Safety can’t be

Guaranteed,

As it is an adventure

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C L Couch

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We hiked up Blood Mountain in a thick mist, the air sharp and refreshing as the clouds shifted around us at shoulder height. When we reached the summit, we found ourselves perfectly sandwiched between two cloud shelves. For the most part, our view was white and void for a nondescript distance, but for moments here and there, mountains and valleys emerged, both in the blankets of clouds and visible briefly beneath.

Photo by Mitchell Griest on Unsplash

Blood Mountain Shelter, Blairsville, United States

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Appalachian National Scenic Trail (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

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Appalachian Trail Conservancy

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Sigh

(x = space)

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Sigh

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Something less dangerous

I wish the world could be safer

But we don’t build with

The best materials,

And too easily we go to war

And the virtue is not not-cheating

But not getting caught

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C L Couch

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Scrap Yard

Photo by Taylor Grote on Unsplash

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Law of Love

(x = space)

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Law of Love

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What does

God want of us?

Through the prophets,

We are told

To walk humbly

With an arch concern for

Justice,

More generally

To repent

And turn toward God,

The people

And the nation

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Through Moses

We are given

Laws from God

On Sinai,

Starting with

The ten laws that

We know,

Most of which

Tell us what not

To do

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God speaks

Through angels

And sometimes

Maybe

God speaks through us

In smaller ways,

Perhaps

One to another

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The measure,

The pendulum

That swings with ease

When set with

Accord

Should be love

That might be difficult

And hard

And sacrificial

But moves with equanimity

Respecting all

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Sometimes in silence

Bearing nonetheless

The message

Of the prophets

Of the angels

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All enact

The law of love

(James would say

the law

of freedom)

And thus

Are closing in

On what God wants

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C L Couch

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12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2 (Christian New Testament, New International Version)

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The Old Bell

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

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You Know

(x = space)

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You Know

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I don’t know

I should have something

More to say

How are you?

What’s up with you?

What have you read

Or heard,

Seen or

Smelled, Tasted

Or touched?

How is the world for you

These days?

I hope you’re well

And having a good day

You deserve it

And to be told so

Many times

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C L Couch

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Friends

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

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A Song about Creation

(x = space)

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A Song about Creation

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I am a Calvinist who

(enough of a Calvinist

who)

Believes the world has

Fallen with the first

Sin we decided to take on

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The world should

Be different, though there

Are reminders everywhere

In nature, in the

Morning, in the soft way

That evening falls

Sometimes

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Maybe it’s in newborn

Life that we have

The promise of creation

To be constant if not perfect,

Wonders in asymmetry

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Science and religion

Taken over by

The awe that greets us

In the mornings of

Every hour, every day

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Hexagons and spirals,

Nature seems

To favor these

(bee cells and nautili,

for instance)

And nebulae sometimes

Look like one-celled wonders

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And for all the shapes

And sizes

In leaves and roots,

Mitochondria, and the

So-much larger flesh outside

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Above and under all we know,

There is amazement

In waking to creation

Remade in amazement

Until “Earth and all stars”

Be renewed perfectly

One day,

A moment

Signaling forever

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C L Couch

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“Earth and All Stars,” a hymn composed by David N. Johnson

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Photo by Gabi Scott on Unsplash

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

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North and South

(x = space)

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North and South

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As we believe

In omnipresence,

We may say

That God is in the rock

Though God is not

The rock

Unless a metaphor

Is needed

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Soul-breathed things

Such as ourselves

Can know that God

Is in us

Not that God is us

The closeness is a marvel,

All the same

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The nearness of God

That some might find

Unnerving

(and it is awesome)

Is correcting as a compass

(metaphor)

Toward the journey home

As in a day

As in a life

As in forever

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C L Couch

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Compass

Photo by Sunil Ray on Unsplash

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Evening Hours

(x = space)

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Evening Hours

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Tonight, somewhere

Vespers will be sung

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Then maybe at midnight,

Those keeping vigil

In a circle

In a loft

Will utter prayers at midnight

For the sake of the new day

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That this midnight

Will mean Monday

Though it could be

Any day,

Any set of twenty-four

Dedicated hours

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All our sundials

All our watches

All our singing

As God wills

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C L Couch

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Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

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Bland Recovery

(x = space)

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Bland Recovery

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I was hoping

I’d feel better

Even with the brace

I couldn’t find

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I was hoping

I could cross my legs

To write

And not pay for it,

Afterward

With added pain

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Here I am on

The fifth Saturday

Wishing it would

Go away,

Wishing that

Too much would

Go away

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Well, I can walk

On it but then

I wear it out

And it wants to cry,

To complain

About injustice

And why it should

Be me

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Time to think

About the others,

Which sometimes

Is cold comfort

For why should

You hurt more

So that I feel less

And berate myself

For lack

Of sympathy?

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Sigh,

The days goes on

And I am in it

You’re there, too,

Most likely with

Your greater pain

And I’m sorry,

Really am

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I hope we are

Forgiven for

All the nothing we

Have done

To warrant pain

As punishment

And the lessons others

Will impose

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Our pain an object—then

An object lesson

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C L Couch

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Photo by Ginny Rose Stewart on Unsplash

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Following Discoveries

(x = space)

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Following Discoveries

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If God wanted us to fly

Well, I think God did want this

We’re there

We’re going far

And we go deep

There are barriers

We make them for each other

And ourselves

But on the other side

Yes, there we will have something

All our rewards

In the arrival

We will have everything

We will be loved, at last

We will be loved

By the universe

Maybe on Earth it hasn’t

Gone so well

But here

Wherever here

There is something grand to do

Every day

Forever

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C L Couch

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Photo by Justin W on Unsplash

San Diego, CA, USA

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