2 poems about, I don’t know, the extraordinary ordinary
don’t unappreciate the day
the trees are gray
now
no longer black
the sky even paler than
it was
and hazy
both being a gift
if dull
a dull gift
and not that there’s evil
so we know the good
so as
a gray so we know the cheering
colors
on
arrival
better
the dullness forms the shadows
after all
and we have need
for three
dimensions
(if
not more)
gray trends sometimes
and do these other
neutral
shades or call
them natural
either way
to call the season
then
to sell
and there is more
for real
in having so much that is
available on
Earth
and to the hearing
smelling
tasting
touching of
you know
(phatically)
so much
please hurry up
(the practical Eliot)*
shall I have more coffee
or
do I dare
to eat
a peach
I could talk about the part
for the hair
though it always seems to go
to the
center
after trials over
years
and did I hear the mermaids song
then from land perhaps
the answer of
another
siren song
and if I walk along the shore
will the competing songs
from land
from ocean
through the air
lead
me to the cave in which
the extra treasure
that
Aladdin couldn’t use
might reside and just for me as if
a spirit said
this is yours
and it’s your time
c l couch
*dealing (over years) with T. S. Eliot, the writer of “The Wasteland,” “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” as well as the famous book about practical cats; citations are paraphrased (the layout paraphrased from the part about the peach)
photo by Ahmed on Unsplash
thy faithfulness and 14 June
(two poems)
thy faithfulness
and now for God
though maybe
God has been with me
from the start
because if not my own
it’s in
God’s nature
and certainly God’s
skill
and also
desire
the same desire
that made everything
and more
the wish
the will
to love the everything
and above all
and with the will of
unfallen angels
to love most
ourselves
we are that important
not for demons
whose interest in consumption
is not the healthy use of
creation
but frankly
to suck us dry
of flesh and spirit
and then display the husks
eagerly
in hell
but we have God
and willful angels
elected
on our side
and in the room
though will leave us quiet
when quiet
is soulfully
or physically demanded
quiet
time
and should we wish
some company
divine
with less than a word
shall be here
to cheer
and to guide
to love
and to show
how love
begins and ends
with presence
one form
or
another
14 June
(2024)
happy
Flag Day
Mitzi’s birthday
the puppy
(not the flag)
who crawled up
on the porch
the day our family
moved
into Pittsburgh
northern suburbs
and remained with us
the next
seventeen years
and was
extraordinary
patient with
several
growing children
as for the flag
you know
we flew it
very day
I recall
there are some things it seems I wrote about most years; today is a thing
c l couch
photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
2 poems
(about God and self, I guess, though, you know, you will find what you will find)
Freely
And there is God
Who first believed in us
First made us
Before we
Set out
Inventing
Re-inventing
Ourselves
Finding the words
We will be known by
If known at all
The looks
Our posture
Whatever
As if creation were a game
Of changing jerseys
Even affiliations
When we can get away with that
Elide expectations
To something like our own
Satisfactions
Who knows
Maybe aligned
With how that God
Had made us
With our natures
Toward our inclinations
Regarding expectations
Heaven-sent
Rather than
Always
Earth bound
Hours
Not much
For a Monday
I’ll admit
Frankly
Tried to sleep with back pain
Then woke up
Heavy on my leg
Under the other
But I breathe
I imagine you are breathing
Too
And there is a day ahead of us
To try
To sleep
Perchance to dream
(well
isn’t that what came to mind
honestly)
Or more importantly
Work out our dreams
Or if need be
Exchange them
For something good
It is to wear
To walk
To recline
To move through the world
And what we have for home
What works well
For a life
With potential satisfaction
Meaning
Faith
Pleasure
And hopes even high
For this and into the next
Hour
C L Couch
Photo by Tristan Colangelo on Unsplash
(2 poems for the weekend)
Man’s Search for Meaning
nah
I simply cannot
come up with
what
to say
it’s Friday
named for Freya
I believe
to go with
Thor
from yesterday
I hope
you have
a pleasant weekend
fecund
(Freya would go
for this)
and with delight
without the mischief
Loki would rather
sponsor
enjoy the days
and look forward
to more
which is how
I think
we have to live
as we can
today
with an on-the-side assurance
of tomorrow
like at a restaurant
asking for
assurance on the side
you know
how figures
and metaphors
must go
as we need them for our work
our rhetoric
discourse
and persuasion
speak to
the birth of a nation
the death of gin
(for a time)
the resurrection
of our booze
(after)
say we are
a patchwork
I remember
melting pot
from school
though don’t hear it
so much
in these
so-called
grownup days
so it’s the weekend
two days to play
for those
who may
yes
chores
too
we know
running errands
and for some
there’s running
too
if you want to think
there could be time to think
though let play
and rest
be timely
too
as they are vital
literally serving life
in
all
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Golde and Tevye
only a little more prosperous
so I could buy the small appliance
when I see it
or trade with less anxiety
for a car
or buy clothes to wear
for comfort more than look
though comfort
requires cost
as well
anything else
well
a less hovel-like place to live
with enough space
to keep me
without doubt
un-claustrophobic
paying for a class
now and then
so I might get better at this
and other things
and there’s fresh food for cooking
like a marketplace experience
most days
though now I’m getting crazy
over riches
I am sure
but
there it is
the kinds of things I want
or want to have
within reach
C L Couch
Photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash
Paucity
Yesterday
It dispensed easily
Like rain
Let go
From a swollen cloud
I had slept some
And daylight seemed
A welcome thing
And writing
Something natural
Instinctive
Like a salutary
Habit
Today it is forced
Word by word
Even choice in syllables
Certainly hopping
Around
Like bunnies
Or like joeys
Seeking mamas
Or small plants
While I seek
Themes
For nourishment
And all of us
Hunt space from predators
Something holy
Set apart
Something measured
Dispensing peaceful portions
Something with color and
With shape
That is also moving
Changing
Like diversity
Itself
As a
Kaleidoscopic offering
Without round lines
Bounding
Even
Weight presses down
Maybe I’ll try again
To sleep
The light is not inviting
Though it’s pretty
But pretty
Enervating
Too
Doze off a while
Maybe
For dreams enough
To help me when
I’m waking
And I’m doing this
Again
Z on
Dream on
Plenty
God help us all
This day
I know God will
The form
Is mystery
The timing
But God is good
Many say
That God is great
God is a spirit
God is love
To move us ‘round
And give us our
Discretion
Honest mystery
To treat us
As we matter
With everyone
And it’s everyone
Everything that’s made
That matters
C L Couch
Photo by Amer Alhalawani on Unsplash
half moon mid of the day
New River Beach, NB, Canada
(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
(x = space)
x
x
Tricksy
x
Not the wife of Norton
More like the creature
In the cave
On an island
In the lake
Who paddled
Throttled fish
Or goblins
And had one precious thing
That in the contest for it
He was sure
He had been hoodwinked
Of it
x
Which is an approach
To life
For some
To foresee and draft
A plan for taking
What’s desired
Or escape
Or something else from Earth
To own
Maybe to give away
The planet as a medium
For catch-and-release
x
Or an item
To pull out
From time to time
Like a jewel from the safe
Of one’s own
Righteous things
x
Something not to adjudicate
But to employ
When the thick is thin
And we in
The thick and thin of it
And this recourse will help
With or without
Preamble
Or an ongoing commentary
To say
Look at this clever thing I’m doing
It will save our bacon
Should we have any bacon
Either way
Quandary resolved
Some measure of escape
And I picked up something helpful
On the way out
Into daylight
x
The thief’s
The hero’s testimony
And we allow
What’s taken
As an exigent chapter
In the story
Of the quest
That passed under mountains
In the dark
x
x
x
Go Westmarch, Young Hobbit
(paean-ish)
x
Silly hobbit
Writing as if at Bree
In a room above
The raucous tributes
Below
x
Not in the study
Preparing contributions
To the read book
That is so important
It is red
x
But there is time
For twilight
And smoke rings
Beer and cake
Or something better
x
Maybe watch
For someone to come by
Whom we anticipate
Especially
When not there
x
And Middle-Earth goes by
And we ponder
Dancing steps
That might please Bombadil
While Goldberry
Marks the time
With other details
Of the party
x
x
x
(title a corruption of advice by Horace Greeley)
x
x
x
C L Couch
x
(x = space)
x
x
Illusion or Reality
x
Do we know illusion
The things out of the corners
Of our eyes
I see my cat
From time to time
x
But an actual illusion
Actual
Something we sense
That isn’t there
It might shape
For our senses
But really
Is a thinking
And misthinking
Of our minds
And hearts
Misallied
In the moment
Or maybe all the time
x
Have we seen some things
That are not there
How does this match
With illusions
In our attitudes
Beliefs
And minds toward things
x
The illusion is for fun
Mismanaging our thoughts
Is something else
x
And now reality
Which is something
As it is
Material
No argument
About it
x
The rock is real
Our eyesight
When it’s measured
The Earth is real
When we stand upon it
x
Yet there’s the question
Real or illusive
Do we have the handle
Are we confident
With our machines
Even machine
Logic
x
In a relativistic age
It’s hard
Sometimes
To tell
Though it’s our invention
For an age
To twist ourselves
Maybe by people
Who make money from it
Or harbor an illusion
(hah)
For power
An abstract
Made of will
Always another
Added to our own
x
We could be superheroes
Cape or helmet
But then
That is illusion
For
Yes
Our entertainment
Though there is inspiration
Too
In these images
And faultless actions
x
Hmm
A reason for illusion
To prop up
Even to help direct
Reality
Remove the versus
Then
Consider
Allied with
Even for fuller comprehension
Even for fuller life
x
In the air
Through the barriers
Who is that
It’s us
x
x
something for Friday
something pre-Hallowe’en
for when you are
we are
midnight persons
x
and now
something about midnight
x
x
Late at Night, You Know
x
Midnight
It isn’t really midnight
Three o’clock is midnight
Which might be why
He had bad things happen
At 3:15
x
Midnight for stories
Nonetheless
And a witching hour
Whose story we might not
Really know
What were the practices
Done in an hour
If that
Or more
Or longer
x
Midnight and shadows
Where are the shadows
In the night
Well
With the moonlight
Or our
Artificial arrangements
Against total darkness
‘til the dawn
x
So there are shadows
There are shapes as well
Of new dimensions
Taller
Without features
For a face
x
Except we know that one is there
Something devilish
Autonomic
Human
Is there
And we shall know too late
If there’s identity
After the action
Or is stands there
A small tower
Over us
‘Til we have the fortitude
To move away
x
Shall there be ghosts
And shall there be story
For us to set down
Until dawn
Or share from what we know
And what we don’t
For comfort
Or for titillation
Until dawn
x
We should remain
Keep our souls inside
It might be just a story
Or a real thing
Inside
x
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Nika Benedictova on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
2 poems
x
x
at the h. f. clinic
x
to the doctor’s well
a doctor type at
the clinic where my
heart failure’s diagnosed
and worked on
blood pressure’s up due
to medication or
some other cause
there’s all the weight from
fluid that is uncomfortable
to feel but since it tends
to kill people by
some kind of drowning I
guess then I should be
grateful and you
know I am
x
x
tawny punks
x
today is
someone’s day
or something’s
thanks to
greeting cards
or causes that simply
want a day
and get authority
to say okay
x
pizza day
beagle day
greeting card day
with greeting cards
for greeting cards
a day for me
is groundhog day
because there
are no cards
so you can cross
out christmas
or new year’s
or presaged a dismal
valentine’s
and write greetings
from
Punxsutawney
over that
and so practice
spelling
Punxsutawney
x
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Ralph Katieb on Unsplash
Groundhog didn’t like the late April snow (she was in the middle of nest building when it hit).
[photographer’s caption]
x
clcouch123 
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