where is oh there it is
how shall we live
in such
a world
how shall we have faith
or even
energy
to start the day
at all aplomb
with hope
in the new day’s
potential
where is the joy
that can’t be suffuse
in the world
but must be out there
somewhere
well
in here
as a promise
then a stitched pledge
we think that evil melts
when we throw water
on it
no
we don’t
we think down deep
that evil never
ends
never steps down
instead
runs
too many of our companies
and
too often
maybe always
gets elected
Pangloss’s garden cannot
be the answer
though we should live parametered
we shouldn’t live
frankly
barricaded
discipline’s important
and we need
restraint
we own
but
we are made for light and air
and the better part of
freedom
we are made for will
which is the
problem
though
we might choose freely
something that delights and
also
emboldens
but what are such things
that are not
comprised
to death
except for understanding compromise
in peace treaties
or
the love we bear each other
sounding trite
and silly
we shouldn’t be surprised
but we’ll have to take the chance
in order to
be ideal
sometime
c l couch
photo by Tony Mucci on Unsplash
Trap
Lord
I could apologize
For asking you
But when the walls are high
And windows small
And light and air
Feel gone
When the need is big
My prison small
With no one
Else attending
So it seems
Whom may I talk to
Anytime
Who without fail with hear me
And regarding the biggest
Fails
And needs in life
Will hear me
And attend
Who will hear me
And respond
Even if the answer is
Endure
And I can question worthiness
With reason
Beyond the point that
No one is deserving
Which moves us
To the place of grace and miracle
That some
Believe they market
By possessing
First
When it is only you
Makes and dispenses
These
And we should honor that
And honor you
With our humility
Brought
To the front
From where we hid it
Last
So without vanity
Even from challenged hope
I ask
Without apology
I guess
For your response
To my exigent situation
The honest need
Take care of
Leaving my vanity
Alone
Please
Thank you
With love
Amen
C L Couch
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
On Waking
How do I wake through prayer
Or other measure
How do I know that you are there
Providing
Yes
Providing
In the pit of pain
Along an indifferent street
Or here
Surrounded by the stress of other people
While my own seems
Toppling enough
Be with me
Lord
And all of us
I must ask you to give
I guess the daily bread
Knowing
The cross should be enough
When I think on that
And sorry
I must ask for more
C L Couch
Photo by Syed Ali on Unsplash
time and not again
a breath into the weekend
I am thinking
for those approximate
to 9 to 5
Monday
through Friday
too
or are you one of those
who does not stop
either by
someone else’s will
or
your own compelling
which
is not
to say you’re wrong
we do
have work
to do
and I served in this way
too
until the first
of heart attacks
then tried to do things differently
and
my supervisor didn’t like it
so I left
and found
the world isn’t ready
for slower people
any
sort
I’m afraid
which is
too bad
because
24
4
365
(366)
is what we get
on Earth
and for our
earthly lives
and how these change so much
through circumstances
though not
to lengthen measures
but
sadly
to truncate
and only in that way
does mortal time
change
sigh
life on Mars
might go differently
or
more likely
could we go like Albert Einstein
over the bridge
FTL-fashion then
return
to find the world futurely changed
and yet again
as the travelers our time
has not
changed a
classic jot
so time is time
and how
to spend it
inside
human parameters
and not that
everything’s our choice
though it is in
our given
nature
and maybe we can or may
choose the time
or even
how to spend it
c l couch
photo by Oliver Hale on Unsplash
Giftings
So let’s
Discover
On the Thursday
Between first and second
Cups of coffee
Near Main
And Walnut
By
The way
With a light changing
From emerald to ruby
Via amber
You know
Through the day and night
What is it
That we want
And shall we have it
I don’t know
What do you want
And may I help you
With that
Do you want something intimate
In which case
I do not know
But if it’s thinking
Over
Something
Which can be intimate
I think
I could help you
By listening
To begin with
And you might find
That’s all you need
Of me
It’s a cheat
I know
Over electronic distance
Though I did not
Invent the thing that both
Makes things possible
And
Gets in the way
Let’s do the best we can
With what we have
And it might be Friday
Where you are
Or maybe finishing the last hour
Of Wednesday
Way west
Of here
Even in Oz
Or Valinor
And if you live such myth
Then I shall listen to you
Frankly
For the betterment
Of me
In storyhearing
Storytelling
Then
With those to whom
To say
Don’t stop me
If you’ve heard this
Because you never have
Heard this
C L Couch
Photo by Izuddin Helmi Adnan on Unsplash
Emerald City? No, Kuala Lumpur. Both places, fictive and real, for stories (fictive and real).
the better reign in hell
(the devil says)
I exhale
you exhale
too
you better
unless it’s your time
in which case
breathe in peace in heaven
where there might be no breath
no need for it
or perfect air
in which to take one breath
or many breaths
forever
and water
such water
drink
wash
whatever
simply walk by
and feel the drops escaping from
the movements toward the
temple of the savior
and the monarch
one of the three
with three in one
and we might be three in one as well
each one of us
flesh
spirit
divine affiliation
life in heaven
noisy
quiet
safe except there were those hints of war
a ruin here and there
perhaps
not because the crafters couldn’t fix them
but because even in heaven
we should learn something
and there was rebellion
after all
or will be
and I don’t know who choses
maybe only angels
and
maybe we’re fodder on the Earth
the middle Earth
while in heaven we mortals-immortals now
much make our choices
too
renew our vows
toward one way or the other
cheering our side on
toward Armageddon
here
and so it seems
by prophecy
on the Earth we’ve known
and might know best
for a while
at least
new to our citizenship in heaven
closer to the leaders
Jesus with his love
Michael with his sword
the Spirit issues strategy
the rows of heaven
know
while God commands it all
and weeps
within a quiet hour in heaven
and maybe all eternity
cosmic
and ethereal
a time for tears
before the onslaught that’s been called
since Eden
or before
when the devil became serpentine
and with all fauna
was given a place there
and something honest
of its nature
but now
there is new gleaming
for the fight
that only one side wants
with one agenda for it
and on two plains
the ranks line up
for the first
and only battle
ever
to determine who shall win
heaven
with eternity
itself
and the reward
of breaking self from all
affiliation
to determine free
without direction
code
or morality to guide
no restrictions
or parameters
only
self
that shall lead to self-destruction
though the devil doesn’t care
for being lord of everything
that’s wrecked
against sub-lordship
subordinate if to only one
in heaven
the lordship
is what sells the angels on its
side
each one a monarch
to its own
and on the full-dimensional plane
that angels have inhabited
in all ages
in the ageless way
and that’s what is withheld
that everyone shall be a lord
of nothing
material
abstract
but over a lack of existence
more and more
in victory
so-called
lords of nothing in particular
having lost all matter
of all kinds
perspective the last thing
to go
perhaps
but something
and then nothing
which shall be the reign of hell
after
exhausting love
until only judgment
must remain
c l couch
photo by Sergio Capuzzimati on Unsplash
On Stairs
I’m lost
Today
Pent up
Stressed
In pain
Depressed
The mental pain
That has expressions
Elsewhere
From neurons
To cells
And how about
Emotions
Where was I
I was sure I was around
Somewhere
Before
Am I meeting the man
Who wasn’t there
An old
And existential rhyme
In time
With time
Maybe I’ll find myself again
Even to know
A thing to you that
I could
Rhymed
Unrhyming share with you
Only my best upon
Request
C L Couch
(something like)
When
I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
I didn’t see him on the stair
Today
I wish
I wish he’d go away
(man or woman may apply)
Photo by Atanas Teodosiev on Unsplash
(maybe I should call an existential Tuesday)
poppies for soldiers
fields of poppies
fields of gravestones
all traditions
and maybe
nonbelief
should leave a blank stone
with name and
service
on an even shape
I wish that poppies were
non-soporific
although
I guess the sleep effect
is good
in what the poppies mean
for
those who sleep beneath
the flowers
and the stones
and those who sleep elsewhere
for the same reason
after service
after sacrifice
should sleep
each
should sleep
until the final call
that would be
a gentle and firm word to say
wake now
you’re well
and all
now
shall be well
c l couch
photo by Laura M Goodsell on Unsplash
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
(from) “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae
Binary Opposition
‘Levendy-‘leven
A children’s number
Yet
Everything too grown-up
Was waiting
For the papers on the tables
To be signed to
End
The awful
Too grown-up
Thing
Eleven eleven
Eleven eleven
And then
The terrible ritual
Was done and we could say
The war
Is over
Over there
Over here
The horror
Of a heart of darkness
Goes back under for
A season
Inside the shell of all the mortals
And the devils
Who let the horror out for
Four years
And now
To reckon all such times
And all such people
Knowing also
Innocent
To serve
Knowing by country
And by honor
And that was nearly all
Except
The names that each one
Might have known
To bear inside the pockets
And the packs
Before
Each battle
And on the field
After
Until games
As in the most harrowing
Of contests
Call
In-free
Come to base
The dark is on
Go home
C L Couch
Photo by Georgi Kalaydzhiev on Unsplash
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