rest in God
(the habit)
rest
in God
and what does that mean
to rest
and sleep a little more
a little more in depth
and
to have dreams
and to dream well
or to dream of true struggles
that by
daylight
we must live through
and
where’s the resting
maybe it’s to nearly nap
to lie down
or lie
back
think easy
find the divine though easy
almost
fall asleep to thank
and then go down
in safety
for a while
or maybe
it’s
an attitude
for decision-making
to be at peace
even
in this meeting
of a board
or with a family
one person
two
or twenty
and in the situation to have
still-thinking
thinking through in an allied way
not
alone
but with others
who might not all
in the room
yet still
still
we know are present
rest might mean embrace
an arm around
and how can God do that
though
the maker of embrace
without doubt
has a way
to make it
think
make it feel
make it hope
and make it love
(also the inventor
of
love)
so rest in God
and maybe in each other
rest in God
c l couch
photo by Squids Z on Unsplash
“Lotus”
Jiediaosha, Shenzhen, China
Prayer in Search of a Liturgist
And if we pray
Should we find a service
Or something
A box
As it were
In which to keep it
Give it
A liturgical home
A formal place
To live
Like a tabernacle or
A reliquary
Or may our prayer
Rise to the trees
And that’s
Enough
Not even to find a nest
But leave the tree’s tendrils
To aim
Even for soaring
Blue then white
Then to the black of space
Or
Un-Claudius like
Might it be helpful
For a prayer
To descend
Into the ground
To talk with
Seeds
Or to the ocean floor
For octopi-like things or
Expulsive vents
Or to go down
To a kind of nothingness
That you are Lord of
Too
Directionful
Directionless
Might prayer go where it needs to be
Where it un-needs to be
For your approval
And
Somehow
For application
Even without much more
Than itself
By itself
To consider
By us
By tree
By space
By Earth
By depth
By you
C L Couch
Photo by Bogomil Mihaylov on Unsplash
(Claudius in Hamlet declares “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;/Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”)
Outlook
It’s
Sun
And yellow on brown
For trees
While the sky is an ashy blue behind
I know it’s Lent
And maybe this is a somber
Spring day
Maybe a calling to
Remember this is what happens
After
Winter
After March’s lion
March’s lamb
Straightforward observations
With ingredients of
Folklore
Added
Even to the speaking of the sun
The day
To us
Unusual
After all
Like a little revolution
A little anthropomorphizing
Is a good thing
Which we’re gonna do
Anyway
Thinking of a sun that smiles
Looking for
The face
In the moon
Tonight
C L Couch
“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing . . .”—Thomas Jefferson
Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash
Shall I Compare Thee to a Winter’s Day?
Shall I compare thee to a winter’s day?
Cold wind must have its way on us:
But thou art cooler than with ice to play
Through season’s layers in response to fuss;
We play outside then warm ourselves inside
Where should thou offer play ourselves a game;
And I am thankful for hot chocolate’s tide,
Though I fall prey to local champion’s fame;
And thou shall treat me when I am of need
If know thou might give over certain flaws,
And let me help thee with an even speed
And yet excel according to love’s laws;
And I must give according to my own
And yet if thou should have thy way made clear,
My own mistakes too sharp as snow is blown,
Then winter’s day know only thawed hearts here;
Fair face’s features with expressive eyes,
Thy bounding love unbounded by the world;
Grace in thy form as only our God buys—
Thy words and insights found like treasure pearl’d;
And should I ask and knowing I must wait
Might we so heat above the frost, our fate.
C L Couch
Photo by Tarryn Grignet on Unsplash
The Riddle of the Day
My eyes aren’t fully open
Neither
Is my heart
With all the feelings
Either
While
Of course
Fuzzyheaded
And the day starts
Anyway
You know that this is so
Up for hours
Many
While third-shift people
Earned the right
To sleep
Just now
Yet in
As in yet in thy dark streets shineth
In the last half-moments
Everything
Seems a little
Gold
As if to say
That we pass through every day
A screen
Made particulate gold
You barely feel
Yet
Sets your heart toward me
Then you wake up to me
And then
Decide
How to feel the gold
If at all
To ignore
Or
Behold
The everlasting light
C L Couch
(as with the ancient form, the solution to the riddle speaks
and cited, not as riddling but referencing, is “O Little Town of Bethlehem”)
Photo by N I on Unsplash
[haiku]
winter skimming late
mysteries in melting ice
slush punctuates
c l couch
photo by Matthew Fassnacht on Unsplash
this kind of hour
gray
sky
black branches
black lines for panes
barely illuminated white frames
tall
in the old house
a saving grace of sorts
by
not seeing so much inside in this
dark hour
c l couch
photo by Tristan Colangelo on Unsplash
Typing Calvinist
Relationships
I’m not good with these
At these
Look at me
Alone
While typing
Word of Earth and faith
As if
I know
At least I have good sources
To go to
And
Yes
This is a solitary act
Traditionally and
Typically
Insofar as that is an operable excuse
But what
Do I know
Whom
Do I
Know
And I don’t know and this
Is doubt
Or course or sometimes when
I refuse to listen
To God
Or you
Or anyone
Too busy with that log in my eye
To see
The virtues of
My sibling people
(who are
all
people)
And while the log means a good challenge
It can be excess
Self-preoccupation
Too
But
Finally to set this down
To set anything on an electron page
Nonetheless
To be
Picked up in an archetypal way
To read
And to respond
This must for you
For all of you
And all for you
There is no reason
Other
Self-expression
Sure
But not enough as we might say
That we are good
And that
Is not enough
C L Couch
(Protestants like work and Calvin liked grace and also Mary; I don’t know enough of Hobbes to say (hah), though I do think most good things go together--say, spirit and flesh; faith and work; readers and writers (when both are good or trying good); voice and text
and with apologies for abstruseness)
Photo by Daniel Lloyd Blunk-Fernández on Unsplash
the familiar way we used to speak
God
you’re here
but there is such a dullness
between you and me
could be an unmoving field
I put there myself
even
unknowing
then to wake to it
and wonder how the barrier
got there
maybe it’s mortality
maybe it’s greed
I’m not sure I know
maybe it’s difference
as in
I’ll come over to you when it’s easy
when the way is lit
thy word
is a lamp
I’ve heard
and are the thees and thous allowed
the ironic use of you
we have let go
the intimate
the way one would say
and has
said
how do I love thee
thou dost prepare
and I should let thee
love
allowing that thou
loves
for creation’s thine
and love's
and so is
mine
c l couch
it used to be that thee was the close way to say you, which is why thee was used in making the Authorized Version and in language overall; ironically, we think of thee and thou and thine as a formal way if at all, and we really don’t, to write and talk and such
references to the Old Testament, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Shakespeare allusion in the photo
photo by Landon Parenteau on Unsplash
Aspen Trees Growing in Saskatchewan Summer [given title]
clcouch123 
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