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Megiddo

Megiddo

 

We need some peace,

Please

The quiet of a moment

Canceling out the noise of

Satan for a time

Minions, silly, yes

Of hell

We call them trolls and lurkers

So we don’t have to

Take it seriously

 

Cancel conversation

Isn’t that the same?

Not to think about what we say

But to turn and, because

We will not see it,

Ignore the table where

We might negotiate

And afterward have feasted

 

C L Couch

 

 

“Megiddo”

James Emery from Douglasville, United States – Megiddo_0665, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3455383

 

7

For Those Dying Last Night

For Those Dying Last Night

 

 

I can wonder

How many died overnight

And I do:

From fires, murder—way too many guns out there

To make it easy

Earthquake without preparation

Before catastrophe is imminent

Volcanic flooding and

The killing funnel winds and so much more

 

Death from lack of funding

Lack of food

Water without sickness caused in

Drinking as we have to do

Death from addiction

Let’s pass fault like drawing fault lines

All around

 

It’s the death unnecessary

That is maddening

As in angering

And thinking that our planet’s people

We are insane

For valuing a life over the next

For execution

Or reward

And a temporal plutarchy

(as in for the moment)

Abrogates decisions from the rest

From the most

The vast most

Of us

 

Blame nature, if you will

It is so strong

But at worst indifferent

With signs drawn almost in miracle

That it would just as soon

Lavish Earth with green and blue

Morning mist of romance

Evenings of wind-song

If only we’d stop destroying all the sense

All the delight

Even the magic in

Everything we should know

Do better

 

No, frog—isn’t easy being green

When your world wants to wither you

In fact, find new places to do so

And turn a profit in the air

Made black before nightfall

And there’s a prophecy

 

We keep living to hate nature

It will find a way to act and show

It hates us back

 

 

addendum

 

Was it taming nature?

Or negotiating,

Beseeching it not to break

Our dams or roads

Or anything for which

We lay foundation?

Did we not ask for mercy

When we lay the track

And dredge the harbor

Back from where

It had newly settled from

Whose effort, I wonder?

Do we not beg the

Earth as we split it with our

Dredges, channeled water

Wide, fractured slate

Not to hate us but

To give us our reward?

Have we ever sought to understand

Balance, agree with

How it sets and how it turns

And how we might live well

With it?

If so, then

That’s the song to sing

 

 

C L Couch

 

 

 

Photo by Marc Szeglat on Unsplash

Hawaii, United States

Lava from Kilauea on Hawaii flows into the ocean. I shot this picture in October 2017. More on my website volcanoes.de.

 

0

Should the Shepherds Sing

Should the Shepherds Sing

 

I want to tell you, God,

That I love you and

Need you

But crazy isn’t good,

And I don’t want that

 

Crazy is good for David

Or Deborah or other prophets

Who come to you and

Are not burned by

The holy of holies

 

That is too much:

Too powerful,

Specific, and eccentric

Might we meet instead by

The shepherd’s brook,

 

I could save my fear

Inside the burbling

For anything you might

Say to me

And might I only listen

Thanks still to be living

 

Should all go well,

We might rest a while

Should the shepherds sing for us

New litanies

At night inside the hills

 

I might be asking for

A small trail under trees

Back into heaven

Cold and clear

As we had drunk

And washed

In this encounter

 

With only country rudeness

(thank goodness)

For an ornament

A style

Show the way

 

Way too easy

And romantic

I might have to endure

Some craziness

Call the party

Homecoming

Like the ark from Shiloh

Danced into the bright city

 

Yet I might listen from an

Outskirt,

Feel the air from

Underneath an arch that shows

The desert

No longer inimical

But part of home

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Makenna Entrikin on Unsplash

Sahara Desert

The dreamy walkway leading up to our campsite in the Sahara Desert.

 

10

A Quieted Place

A Quieted Place

 

A quiet place

A song

A horror story

Someplace where we want to be

Sometimes

A park

The parking lot at the stadium

Night with lights outside

Inside with a candle

Or with nothing

But our senses

As they are

 

I carry the noise

You might

And so must have another

Point and counterpoint

To make a wash of sound

And give me (us) echoes of the sea

Or some such ambiance

For peace

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Amanda Flavell on Unsplash

 

6

Empty Container at Your Door

Empty Container at Your Door

 

I need something

Maybe you have it

Not a reason

I have reasons

Not a cup of sugar as

A metaphor

 

How about some spice?

Might you have

Oregano, bay leaf—

Or some mint leaves for

A julep or mojito?

 

Anything that might

Speak up of interest

Give the day some

Seasoning in either

Experiment or harmony

It’s in the words, I know

The texture on

The tongue and then

The taste

 

So that there is

An instant call to

Savor everything

Solid or liquid or

Flying through the air

Loose molecules

Like witches’ night

A moon-sailed sky

Fire circle then

Retreat to morning

 

Or spices like alchemy

Changing the substance of

The world

Adding some wealth

Unto those the

Crusted world deems

Undeserving

The surprise of a reaction

Ruining its surprise

With one of bright living

By those they wish

Forgotten

 

Some flavoring, please

Please make it real

Even for me

Especially for you

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Cassidy Phillips on Unsplash

My friend is a ceramic artist and made this pitcher, which she is watering her herbs with. It’s beautiful to see art given a purpose.

 

5

Praying from Democracyland

Praying from Democracyland

 

Okay, God

You and me

Don’t you have

The poor end of the stick

I can rely on the other end

That’s you

I treat you as a friend

Sometimes as a phantom

Sometimes wish you down

Upon my enemies

With fire and menace

But then consider

Those for me

And cease

I have to

That is doctrine

Sigh (a real, stage, and

spiritual direction)

 

You are the source of power

Start of majesty,

I know

I treat you like a pal

I shouldn’t do that

But you are the source of love, more so

And I don’t know how to deal

In that,

Snubbing all formality

In wanting easy terms

For us

 

As a suggestion, let’s read your gospel

Much of that has clarity, I know

And honestly the fuzzy parts

Are interesting but not compelling

Either way

 

So I’ll rely on truth as

I can get it from

A reading and a prayer

You’ll be there,

I know

As in everything you started

The skies

The world

And me

Anyone who listens

Or does not listen

Who hears but does not hear

Sometimes like me,

Though now

This is about you

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

Portland, United States

Condensation and fresh raindrops against the window of our car during a trip to get donuts in Portland, Oregon.

 

13

Thank You Very Much

Thank You Very Much

(a gratitude of winter)

 

I don’t have a winter home

No fireplace to sit by and

Wrap up

Wheel a television set close

By (before the wrapping)

To play an old, old movie

Maybe in black and white

(scandalous! I know)

To have a cup of something hot

A book close by for cheer—well,

These things I could arrange

(book and hot drink, even reading

glasses)

But how to have some company

To share the story of

The story and to

Talk of other things?

 

For the half I do not have,

I have a half of other things

Some of which might do

The book (and reading glasses)

I can heat up something

And I have the time, I believe,

For now

 

For what I have and what I don’t

And what you give me to believe,

For with some snow

And not too much (I hope, I ask)

And for all who are with me

Now and again,

I can say, only and best,

Thank you very much

 

C L Couch

 

This is inspired by a song in a family-favorite movie, Scrooge.

 

 

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Lake Michigamme, United States

Our nights were filled with conversations by the fire, singing songs, and lots of laughs. It was a great way to unwind and grow together as a crew. See more about our team retreat on our blog. http://headway.io/blog/headway-winter-retreat-2018/

 

4

Testimony of a Winter Day

Testimony of a Winter Day

 

Snow has fallen

Like frosting on a cake for now

Is that where the baker’s

Term came from?

The sky is featureless

Any sunlight is diffuse

It’s Saturday

So in the USA timing is not an issue

For the weekend-minded

And privileged

It’s a setting for a winter’s day

Appropriate for the Mid-Atlantic

If there’s a storm somewhere

Beaches will be closed for walking

Ships will hopefully take caution

As an exigent criterion

 

At present, I live in a small town

And testify only to a noisy neighbor

I would rather live without

Maybe he will leave

But not today

Today is a day for inside

For those who have fireplaces

To light a fire in them

Read by another light

Next to the firelight

Wrap up in something

Liquid hot or cold close by

Or if there’s someone else, have

A conversation

 

About nothing in particular

Or what’s been keeping in the rush

Of sunlit, navigable days

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by invisiblepower on Unsplash

Norway

The Early Morning

 

3

Inventing Peace

Inventing Peace

(in three small acts)

 

1

Peace comes from within

And also without

It’s an invention, a discovery

A state of mind

It’s an accomplishment

Takes years

Something always just ahead

Out of reach

Of mortal hands

Means

 

But we make it happen, yes?

It starts and ends with me

All right, maybe another

A small circle

Dedicated to agreement

But that’s it

We get a place of comfort

And we decide

We have it

 

2

And then the big barns of the wealthy

Look useless for God calling up

The builder before

Any more was put inside

Oh, so someone must be involved

That person

I should pray

And go to church, now and then

And give something to the poor

That taken care,

I’ll have earned

Beatitude

 

Well, no

In this dialogue with me

Since you’ve gotten me involved

Through invocation

I must tell you

Peace is not for you

It never was

What!

 

3

Peace is for the poor

Don’t worry, the poor can own many things

But they can’t be you

You disqualified yourself

Almost at birth

That can’s be

You’re not fair!

 

Not all the time, no

But I’m just

You’re human

You, your people, asked to have it so

And so it’s been

You live in will

That means you live with sin

Beneath the skin

Your parents might have done it for you

But you owned it, soon as possible

Oh,

 

Okay, I see

What do you want?

Much

But that’s another conversation

Call it prayer, call it confession

I’ll call it pardon

Repentance and then reconciliation

Look there, I’ve given it all away

You want peace?

Do that

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash

Sparrows on the Snow – pictures edited with my presets that you can find on my website in BIO

 

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