clcouch123

Next Thursday

Next Thursday

(for my friend)

How are you? What’s

up? I have an operation

to excise a tumor:

is that normal

talk in our coffee shop?

Do you mind? I can’t

feel it, but it bothers me

a lot—I think I can

manage until then, though

it gets hard, you know?

You don’t?

You’ve never had this

in the flesh? You’ve never

Felt the fear? I could

Wish I were you!

Have to go? I understand:

no, I’ll stay here for

a while, have

another cuppa.

I like today’s blend;

it smells, well, it smells

like oily health.

Yum. See you. See

You tonight? Well,

if you can make

it. If not, well, I guess

I’ll understand.

C L Couch

October 26, 2016 11

Today’s Pain

Today’s Pain

My eyes hurt. Parts

are swimming.

Parts are dry. Maybe

with more sleep.

Sigh.

C L Couch

October 25, 2016 7

Morning Dark

Morning Dark

morning dark

it’s longer now

and night arrives

earlier—the

longer time for

black sky to have

its way

and in equinox-

thinking, this is

just

for we should not

fear the dark,

since there is

dreaming there

C L Couch

October 24, 2016 6

Trees

Trees

(for an October prompt)

Tolkien liked trees

Robin Hood, too;

Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily,

I imagine,

Providing shelter

And playing fields

For lost boys

I like trees

Two of these peaked

High like towers from

The wide suburban plain

Of the backyard,

Splindly reaching toward

A clouded sky on

A Pittsburgh summer day

There was wind

At night, and upon the

Morning in the yard

One tree had fallen

Large across the lawn,

Tall on the ground

Sibling standing over

As if to demonstrate their

Name,

Weeping willow

For many days

I had climbed into the

Guard now dying,

Onto a lumbered platform

That my father built

That lay square among

Round branches

Inside uprooted, plodding

Blocks

Of grass

First time for me

With something monstrous

So close, so wrong

C L Couch

October 21, 2016 9

Psalm 51 (one more song)

Psalm 51

(one more song)

Create in me

A clean heart,

O God

And renew

A right spirit

Within me

Cast me not

Away from thy

Presence

And take not

Thy holy spirit

From me

Transliteration

And some remembrance

My favorite part

Of psalms

We number at

One hundred fifty,

Paradox in fame

And intimacy

This are teaching,

Which means

Learning

We need God

For new creation

To point to

Art

That in practice

Becomes science

I need God for more

And cannot

Question merit;

Good work matters

But grace invites

Salvation

The chamber

Of my soul

Has many parts

Open for

Parousia

I don’t know how

Spirit of God

Invests

And infiltrates

But my soul will take

Arriving,

When a spark of you

Is born in me

C L Couch

October 17, 2016 11

Spaceships

Spaceships

Shapes that never flew,

clean lines that don’t

exist;

eccentric shapes of fifty,

sixty years ago,

of older sci-fi movies,

too,

of Méliès and Lang;

I put my spirit-child trust in

these

far-off, far-out

conveyances

through times and places

that I ken

at night when

looking out to dream an

open sky;

Liftoff,

mind stowed above shined

shelves of

unknowing, rhythmic,

turned controls that

take me

nowhere, really;

back of the senses, though,

that day by day must

gauge

and engage—

there’s unerring flying

there,

as is said,

believe you me;

rocket to a set piece,

yes, I know; and

I’ll keep

watching,

dreaming of silver-streaming

things

that might bear

you and me

away into otherwise

impassable,

impossible flight-filled night

C L Couch

October 16, 2016 5

Homely Patterns

Homely Patterns

(touchstones)

The textures look good,

Fetching shadows made by

Leaves that brush

Morning panes;

Utensils drying in the

Countertop basket, like

Bright soldiers

At ease

Anticipating dress parade;

Things lined up above

The sink, ordinary

Items as

Remembrances:

Symbols mean the whole;

Here hopes rest

In half-light perceptions

And

First-morning moments

October 16, 2016 5

Teal Pumpkin Project (haiku)

Teal Pumpkin Project

Leave un-allergenic treats

On Hallowe’en porch

http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project#.WABLLiQ5pcw

Save

October 14, 2016 2

Services with Variants

Services with Variants

(from Appalachia)

I wonder as I wander

Out under the sky

Why Jesus, my Jesus,

Did come down to die

For poor on’ry people

Like you and like I

I wonder as I wander

Out under the sky

And then the story can begin in

Earnest—the grammar’s bad:

What does that really matter,

When the bias is for long and

Almost painful, loving notes

Wrought in the words to send

Them over; all the o sounds and

The is like convict souls, once

Held then let go like winged

Enchantment, soar above the

Planet in the room, to wave

Like smoke around the beams

Above the Sunday evening

Gathering, like convicts bound

Whose chains are broken with

No expectation, words and

Notes released like birds once

Wrapped by keepers’ hands—

In flight now to know no other

Mission than the erring sky

And song of wonder-wandering

“I Wonder as I Wander” (Appalachia)

Words and Music collected by John Jacob Niles

Collected by John Jacob Niles in Murphy, [North Carolina,] in July 1933 from a young traveling evangelist Annie Morgan. According to Niles, he asked her to sing the song repeatedly until he had memorized it. It was published in his 1934 Songs of the Hill-Folk.

http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/i_wonder_as_i_wander.htm

and “on’ry” is ornery, which is a good word

October 13, 2016 2