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so much to bear

(x = space)

x

x

so much to bear

(Advent 3)

x

white candle lit among the read

where I attended

pink candle among the blue

or purple

elsewhere

or four white

or five

or whatever combination

serves

three candles now

four for Sundays

then the fifth pillar for

the birth of Christ

x

we love

our small flames

they are romantic

they bring us close to

see

to feel

small heat

grand symbols

the joy being close

Christ is born

to save the world

remembering verse seventeen

after sixteen

protested in the games

x

incarnate

incarnadine in poetry

and in fleshly Bethlehem

that might or might not be

accessible

because of war

or

who knows

issues regarding

ownership

x

the birth is also

inside

the spark of faith

breathing

as at birth

born again

we say

x

Eve restored

Adam

wandering

may cease

knowing who he is

at last

for there is another

showing the way

for masculine

and feminine

for fully human

taught with the help

fully divine

x

prophecy says so

but we carry

prophecy inside

as well

let everything

burn three times

in remembrance

in faith

renewed

extinguish

and turn out

take them with you

x

Angels we have heard on high

we have heard the angels

they are in the sky

x

no wonder

for the wonder

we should be afraid

and the first thing that they tell us is

don’t be afraid

don’t worry

we are here with good news

our assignment

telling Mary

telling Joseph

telling you

that the child is born

at last

for all the prophecy

so that both might grow

and everything

into completion

x

c l couch

x

x

(the third Advent candle for the third Sunday is often associated with joy; this candle is lit also to recognize the shepherds who heard the news from angels and journeyed, then, to Bethlehem)

x

photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

x

0

Hills

(x = space)

x

x

Hills

x

The hills roll on

Our wheels

Over them

While in the wagons ride

Our beating hearts

And hopeful

Heads

For visioning

x

It is a caravan

Perhaps

While we stop

Now and then

For swapping stories

How it’s going

Checking

Wheels and harnesses

How are our victuals

Holding out

Against a destination

Once the hills

Should cease

And we are on the plain

Then stopping

Standing

By a sea of judgment

And also

All our joy

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash

“Joe on the way home…”

x

0

Insurance, Roll

(x = space)

x

x

Insurance, Roll (2 poems, maybe a minute and a half, then thirty seconds)

x

x

Insurance

x

Someone’s game

Since what’s insured

What’s assured

The people

Whom I deal with

Are human

They are kind

As well as enthused

And

Yes

They’re selling something

We sell lots of things

Not always cordially

Especially when

Necessity’s involved

x

These are

Community people

We live in the same town

We buy and sell

Sometimes

Maybe often

From each other

We live here

Don’t we live here

A modern age

That has split generations

Hasn’t split everything

Between us

x

Not that a moral’s needed

Some would say

No doubt

Leave out

But

Maybe

There’s some insurance

In that human sameness

For our differences

Maybe

x

(my car was totaled and I’m inheriting my brother’s car, dealing with all that)

x

x

Roll

x

I rock

Without a chair

Just rock back and forth

While seated

(wherever)

Works out my lower back

A little

Plus it encourages distraction

While sometimes

Reflection

I close my eyes while moving

Think of nothing

In particular

And listen

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Emily Grace Corley on Unsplash

x

1

3 poems, when you have time

(x = space)

x

x

3 poems, when you have time (one poem about observation, one about reading, one about war taking all)

x

x

Observe and Report

x

For preamble

Nothing like

The burdens of a people

Upon Joshua

Or Caleb

x

What’s petty

What is meaningful

Too often

I don’t know

I pick up a stone

It’s not a park

There are no regulations

I take the thing with me

Becomes an artifact

At home

x

I am reminded

Of the Earth

We are set on

So many layers

To the center

Countless to go out

Again

To try to count

x

Clueless

It and I

While it’s supposed to be

And I think I should know something

About the atoms

The formation

Its place

Near my fingers

When I found it

When I take it up

Look upon it

Now

x

x

Read Me

x

Not unlike the words

Commanding

Alice

To forward

Her adventure

x

Words

Well

Words have

Such value

So the lines are short

While

Reading slowly is advised

Going slowly

Generally

x

Yours should be read

This way

As well

x

Time is a treasure

Though we should parse it out

Surrender it in particles

x

Not worrying so much

About the measure

Since the bill

Of sale

Is not our own

But investment the creator made

Inside creation

x

So let’s take our time

As said

Although again

It’s not our own

But lent

At best

And for our use

Simply

As use

x

Please take time to read me

I’ll take time

Reading

You

And then there’s

The needful time

For vital

As in lively

Response

x

x

War and After, After

x

The wars go on

Again

I can’t imagine

The explosions

The dust

The rubble

And the blood

Beneath

x

And the things of blood

Of bodies

That once held the lives

Of souls

While here on Earth

x

Now stolen

As if by gods

Self-styled

With machines

Black and pretty

Smithed

In hell

x

And this is metaphor

Impressions

The real thing

For those alive

Is all about

The running

Avoidance of more anything

Like that

Again

x

And then it happens

There is more

It’s worse

Nothing inside ourselves

Ever

Really

Gets used to it

x

And then

Maybe there’s a moment when

The silence rings

Notes of nothing

Anymore

While looking

Touching

For flesh containing life

We might embrace

To take

And to offer

What we have

x

And there might be people

Come from

Too short a way

To find us

For ourselves

To treat us

Representing

Something clean

And institutional

Away

x

We might be taken there

Where

Objectless walls

Close in

With noises in the distance

Or have we brought them with us

And is it noise

That closes in

The distance

x

We need medication

Sedative

To leave all this

Except for bodies

That have names

xxxxxWe cherish both

xxxxxWe want them

xxxxxHave to search for them

xxxxxTo know them

xxxxxAnd to have them

xxxxxOnce again

x

Though we might have to settle

In without response

While life is measured

Sometimes

Without

The power to the building

And their efforts

And the dust

And rubble

That came in with us

x

The war

The damning war

The reason we say bloody

For the worst

Things we can think of

x

Fleshly containers

Holding flesh

Until they must

Let go

x

Who are they

What are their names

Who are we

Where are we going

x

War take all

Peace for the remnant

The ghostly revenant

Left over

The dust

Of everything that’s taken

For what’s left over

To remain

x

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Ansia Lasa on Unsplash

x

0

Saint Light

(x = space)

x

x

Saint Light

x

Lucia

Giving birth

In spirit

And calendar

To solstice

Then to Christmas

The festivals of days

Sung by ancient voices

Variously doctrinaire

Also enculturated

Now

x

Santa Lucia

Lights

On wreaths

In Scandinavia

Illumined

In other nations

Other places

Say

In Syracuse

On Sicily

Where

Then

And throughout

There is

The song

x

Special food

(everywhere)

As well

To match the time

The separation

From

Ordinary drives

Today

x

Christian

And also enculturated

Much like the season

We inhabit

Of so many

Days

The stories

With their membership

On hearing

x

Close to solstice

So also for

The timing

Of these broader days

Say longer nights

For fears

In all of this

x

Small lights in the darkness

‘Til banks of angels

Set the stars on fire with

Announcements

x

Here is the day

Here is the sky

Fear not

Winter is not the end

We promise spring

With longer days

Dressed

Inside

Outside

Green and health

x

So for these colder days

To north

And scalding days to south

We without angels

Maybe

Maybe offer news

As gospel

Good news

And

Oh

So many stories

To tell each other

Through

Seasons’ hardships

And hard feelings

x

Also then

Some for

In fact

Bonfires

Like the angels and the stars

Though mostly

For the axis of the Earth

x

The smaller lights will do

But sometimes large

For dancing near

x

‘Til later on

In spring

And then the fall

The equinox secure

The balance in

All better things

x

on Santa Lucia Day

(13 December 2023)

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

x

1

The God of Editing

(x = space)

x

x

The God of Editing

x

I looked it up

The plural form

Typed it so

The red line remained

Then I breathed on it

The red line went away

What

x

What kind of cooperation

Might exist

And serve

Between divinity

Electron understanding

And me

x

A muse took pity

On my breathing

Or the computer took its time

Somehow

And then the timing

Because maybe God is funny

And has a time of it

Messing

With our loves

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jason Yu on Unsplash

x

2

Hanukkah Blue

(x = space)

x

x

Hanukkah Blue

x

Hanukkah

Blue

Blue of certain

Stars

Pretty blue

Thoughtful

Magic

Works its way inside

Protective shells

To say

This is right

This is good

Blue for the miracle

Blue for peace

That should be

No one’s miracle

For happening

For real

Everyone

Upon the Earth

In every season

Once achieved

That point

From

Now on

Blue for jazz

Blue for me

Blue for you

Blue on

Beauty

All the stars

Starting on one star

For

Seasons’

Greetings

Blue on

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Zhifei Zhou on Unsplash

x

1

Bilateral Stimulation

(x = space)

x

x

Bilateral Stimulation

x

Two candles

What do they mean?

That it is Sunday

Sabbath day

A day in Advent

Second Sunday

The candles on the wreath

Have meaning

The wreath has meaning,

Too

The lights remind us

Of the spirit

Also of faith

And how one fortifies

The other

There is more prophecy

Remembering

The job skill

Of the prophets

In not only future-telling

But foretell the present

As well

x

What is happening now?

There are wars

Not for the first time

There drought

And the effects of drought

There have been

Flods as well

Ironically

We and nature

Have our moments

x

There is politics

To trouble a way through

All

While not addressing much

And proposing less

Unless we press

Where governments allow

Or where they don’t

And here the prophets

Help us,

Too

x

Two candles

Twice as strong

For support

Twice the light

For inspiration

Two times

The investment in the season

In our learning

Or reminding

Of an illuminated world

To come

Plus how each of us

May offer light

Into the world

All wintry to the north

Summery to the south

Though one

Season everywhere

Just now

x

Adore the story

In the advent

Of the Lord

Into the world

Light the way

Even with small lights

Even the light

Of one

Though look for lights to add

Look around

Let senses say

Shadowed

And unshadowed

We have each other

In all seasons

x

C L Couch

x

Advent 2

x

x

Photo by Rainer Gelhot on Unsplash

x

1

Pastures Green

(x = space)

x

x

Pastures Green

x

We ask you

You are near

To take us with you

After

As you let us go

Before

With this strange back-and-forth

The holding

Letting go

For the between

x

The life we know

Best we can

Or may

Given potential

And our choices

Matter more

Until

They done

Evolving to obedience

Rejection

Nothing more

x

To train like angels

To rebel

Like angels

To resolve

The war in heaven

So that admittance

To the new Earth

Is allowed

x

A heaven

Made for one

Which was hell’s agenda

Now thrown open

Like windows

Upon spring

From mansions

To interpret

A party in the courtyard

With victory overwhelming

All remembrance

Love and food

For news

Living water all around

For

Life and safety

Wings and colors

All released

For good

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

x

The Green Pastures, a great movie, I recall (see it, hear it)

x

“pastures green” in the lyrics of “Brother James’s Air”

x

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