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Poem 181

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Poem 181

(thanks for the Poetry 180 Project)

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Where are you?

I’ll miss you for the summer

Billy Collins, thank you

And the Library of Congress

They are contact days, I know

Or contract

The days in a school year

By the number

And the project of a poem a day

To keep us sane,

To give us something to talk about

In class,

Who knows, maybe for extra credit

To write companion pieces

Illustrate them, turn them in

Tack them to a board

Somewhere (but in a place

of honor)

And for me, the poems give this

Once-and-future teacher

Something good

Once a day, especially

When nothing else seems good

Something to carry me

A thought, a momentary inspiration

New words, new ideas

Or simply confirmation that

I should keep reading (writing)

On my own, too

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thank you

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C L Couch

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Poetry 180 is designed to make it easy for students to hear or read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year. I have selected the poems you will find here with high school students in mind. They are intended to be listened to, and I suggest that all members of the school community be included as readers. A great time for the readings would be following the end of daily announcements over the public address system.

Billy Collins
Former Poet Laureate of the United States

Poetry 180  |  Poet Laureate Projects  |  Poet Laureate  |  Poetry & Literature  |  Programs  |  Library of Congress (loc.gov)

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Nazaré Wall Art

Manolo Chrétien

Nazaré, Portugal

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Toward the Ending of a Great War

(x = space)

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Toward the Ending of a Great War

(for 6 June 1944)

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Today, many soldiers died

On all sides

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Many civilians as well

In their towns

And on their fields,

Whole families

And many animals

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For children

And for parents

We can’t imagine worse

Except for plague and

Drought, which are

Other kinds

Of war

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The despot didn’t die

And would lead its people

Through

Ongoing and great suffering

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Awful suffering,

Horrible—blooded,

Vivisected,

Tactical annihilation

By its hand

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Today, many soldiers died

And civilians;

Many soldiers and civilians live

Then and now

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C L Couch

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Photo by Shalev Cohen on Unsplash

Pointe du Hoc, צרפת

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Apologies

(x = space)

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Apologies

(and Philippians 4:8)

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Oh, dear, it’s Sunday

And there’s nothing in my

Sometimes Protestant, suburban mind

To share

I didn’t pay attention to the sermon

(too many points)

Or the meaning of the lyrics

(one broad and unconvincing point),

Though I’ll say the problem

Is inside my head,

What’s left of my heart

And there are those who had their

Sabbath, starting Friday,

And those who have a time for

Sabbath every day

I could envy

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And is there something I can say?

Think on these things

With the Philippians,

Which might be a good list

For anyone

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C L Couch

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Photo by Dariusz Mejer on Unsplash

Babylon, United States

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toward summer sun gods

(x = space)

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toward summer sun gods

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early morning, and

I think

the sun and I

shall track each

other through

the day

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I slept in fits

and starts but

have blood tests

this morning

(ongoing diagnosis)

and should not

miss them

simply because

I’m tired

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I’m sure you understand

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hello, day,

let’s give it a go: a

fourteen-hour

treasure hunt

calling us

toward riding,

running, or pedestrian

pursuits

for pleasure and

for profit

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then we shall

set

together into night

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c l couch

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photo by Olya /Voloshka on Unsplash

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Favor Hesiod

(x = space)

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Favor Hesiod

(writer of Theogony)

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Remember

Myths aren’t lies

That’s for conversation

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Fables are

For teaching, which means

They are

For learning

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The more fantastic

Stretches

With gods and

Agencies for gods

And such

Are a try

At understanding

Truth to questions

Without

Conversation’s answers

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What is time?

Why are their seasons?

Why is this

A good year?

What about

The next one?

What happens after

Death?  What is our

Purpose while we’re here?

How might we live

With passion?

Why do we have it

In the first place?

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Not lies

But tries at truth

Without the words

Or understanding

Motivations of

Forces outside

Ourselves and

Ourselves

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What happens when

Someone climbs

Parnassus or Olympus

Has a reason, too,

And a story

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For all we’re told

And tell ourselves

Old stories are foolish

If not stupid,

We still ask questions,

Same questions

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Some answers

Will be chemical

Now,

But elements

Persist above

The table in a

Ring of sky

(or under

Earth)

That we cannot find

For all our wishing

All our striving

All our talking

For a purpose

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So we return to stories

And make new ones

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C L Couch

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Theogony, myths about gods, creation, and more

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A Rendition of Life on Planet Earth

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6638499

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Finding Fantastic Creatures

(x = space)

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Finding Fantastic Creatures

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They could have flown

Above the ark

Where the birds took

Exercise,

Now and then

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Dropping down onto

The deck,

Uninvited

Though the ark-pilot

Is kind,

If somewhat crazed

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Or maybe the dragons

Found

The ship of Gilgamesh,

Which also carried

Unicorns

We might as well believe

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C L Couch

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Photo by Thomas Oxford on Unsplash

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Extraordinary Contract

(x = space)

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Extraordinary Contract

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And should there be

Devotion

Not for a deal

Though “if my people”

Sounds that way

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But simply for love

There shall be healing

In the land

In the hearts of waves

And inside trees

And inside us

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It sounds as if there’s

A contract

I suppose our avatars

Could act as agents

Though what creators

Might be needing

I can’t say,

Though gods have died,

We tell each other

For the lack

Of followers

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Thus happened to Apollo,

Artemis,

Hephaestus

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Creators need creations

Is that it?

Is that what’s to be believed?

If so, we bring material

To the table

In ourselves

For negotiation

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A mingling of mortality

With divinity,

Flesh with spirit

Not Nephilim

But honestly

Our callings come together

So that there is today

And a promise of

The next day and the next

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Flesh and spirit

Bargain of the ages

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C L Couch

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After German reunification, the Neue Wache was rededicated as the “Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Dictatorship.” The sculpture (by Käthe Kollwitz) shows a Mother with her Dead Son. The pietà-style sculpture is directly placed under the oculus, and so is exposed to the rain, snow and cold of the Berlin climate, symbolizing the suffering of civilians during World War II.

Photo by Marie Bellando-Mitjans on Unsplash

Neue Wache, Berlin, Germany

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Greenwood

(x = space)

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Greenwood

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Pleasant name, pleasant place,

I’m sure

But a hundred years ago

The neighborhood was burning,

Smoldering, ruining

Owners gone or rounded up, arrested,

And confined

And it would take a hundred years

To talk about at all,

At all well

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A campaign of hours,

One side had more guns

And a pretense of law enforcement

That on other days

Might have worked fine

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But now

So many deputized

Self-deputized

More simply self-righteous

Took aim, fired

Then burned buildings,

One of the first of them a church

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Were they prideful,

The Greenwood people?

Did they enjoy their luxury?

A colony of prosperity

In what turned out to be

Enemy-occupied land,

Though they had helped

To fight the war

Against the worst

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Say what you will,

There is relief in owning something

And despair when it is taken—maybe

You know the feeling

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So many who lost more

And life as more

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And had evidence

Of their lives

Buried without markings,

Without marking the

Rage and guilt

That killed them

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But it’s in such a pleasant

Place

And the neighborhood so

Pleasantly named,

Imbued with rest

That someday will return

To those who know it best for

Want,

For dreaming

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C L Couch

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Photo by Hayden Scott on Unsplash

Tulsa, OK

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City Of Tulsa To Resume Search For Possible Mass Graves At Oaklawn Cemetery (news9.com)

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Memorial Day in the USA

(x = space)

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Memorial Day in the USA

(2021)

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It is a holiday in the USA

I suppose the sales are good

And there will be

Shiny fireworks

Reminding us the day means,

Well, something

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There are days like this

Around the world,

As there should be:

Remembrances of those

Who fought and

Died in war

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The wisdom of strategy

And final choices

Is not on the program;

Like the Light Brigade,

There are those

Who served

Because they served

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Remember them,

Because their loss

Is the foundation

For unfought

Wars over silent

Battlefields

That were and are

And will be,

Someday

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C L Couch

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Golden Stars

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

World War II Memorial, Independence Avenue Southwest, Washington, DC, USA

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