a moment in devotion
God
I love you
I can say it
into a quiet moment
in the hope
of food
reception
by an angel
who might convey the message
there
and then
something
returning
maybe the same words
or something else
an assignment
should I wish
to accept it
though the angels do not stutter
over approval
and then
to act it out
except for the third
that fell
or are falling now
while working wile
responding
to a campaign
and a plan
below it all
from the one
who’s fallen
and will keep falling
who cannot stop
on nothingness
the moment
of my love
maybe my fear
in how I’ve fallen
in a metaphor
for doctrine
though the fear
is real
enough
come save me
if you will
I cannot fall alone
for faith
or for an angel
you might send me
so I live
to say
and live
the love
with which you made
the Earth
and even chasms
with the landing place
the catching place
below
c l couch
photo by Vickey Goh on Unsplash
What Do Angels Eat
I suppose
The first and best guess
Is nothing
They are heavenly
They seem to work
Unflagging
What need have they for
Food
What then
If a need
And for an energy source
For we may say they are
Relentless
Yet wonder if
Their energy is
Eternal
They are divine
(before some choose
another way)
Though they are not divinity
And so might
To fancy
Or daresay
Need fuel
I wonder if
They might draw energy
From sources in the
Cosmos
That they both know
And
Throughout
Time
And without
Time traverse
Say
With delight
They might soar through
The atmosphere
Of Venue
Fill their wings
Like sails
With wind
From gaseous origins
They might digest
Of
Slingshot movements
‘Round the sun
Or borrow from the
Energy
From orbits of the
Many moons
Of Saturn
Or of Jupiter
Borrowing
From Phobos
Deimos
Or the satellites
Of outer Neptune
Or
Dwarf planets
They might know the molecules
That fill what we consider
Empty space
They might eat dark matter
Or visit to the other ends
Of black holes
And so feast
From what is there
And so
Inside the center
Of each galaxy
So be replenished
From so many places
Or maybe a dimension’s slide
Into another
Provides nourishment of
Meals
So-called
Out of the multiverse
They eat
Without the worry
Of measure
Until our measures become
Or of other worlds become
Adept
To catch them
At their food
And so have proof
Though faith
(foolish
you might say)
Has long
And even
Now
Requires none
C L Couch
n. b.
Maybe they are feeding
From the leaves
In trees
(who says what size)
That fall through fall
Or reach up from the ground
In spring as
Seedings
Other plants
Flowers
And with an irony
What we need
And take
As crops
For food
(CLC)
Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
"Energy," by the way claims William Blake, "is eternal delight."
Who Wins, What Is the Prize
The devil never sleeps
And I’m not sure
That’s so
Do angels sleep
Do persons in the Trinity
Maybe
Take turns
Or shifts of angels
And of demons
Unless the boss of all
Infernos
Demands no rest
For its agents
Or agencies
That must be busy
In corruptions
And
Winning souls for hell
Which is
Backward evangelism
Though real enough
In goading
Forces for
An Armageddon
C L Couch
Photo by National Library of Scotland on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Entertaining Unaware
x
The Greek myth that
I like so much
About the couple who
Ends up entertaining gods
x
Then while at dinner
Having both
The pitcher and the plate
Fill with wine and grapes
Respectively
All the time
x
Comes to mind
When pouring out the last
Of the cream
From the carton
x
Hoping there’s enough for
A cup of coffee
By an acolyte
Of morning
x
Or whenever
Some plenty might be needed
Provided by maybe
A not-unknown
God
With perhaps
An agency of angels
x
C L Couch
x
x
Baucis and Philemon
Metamorphoses
x
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:2
x
x
(x = space)
x
x
An Angel Drops the Mic
x
Show’s over
Time for applause
Be impressed with me
The talent
And the portent
The agency
I am
And represent
x
This was fun
Next time you see and hear me
The show will be the last
And best
And afterward
Maybe a revue in
Our new place
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by BRUNO EMMANUELLE on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Briefly, the Apocalypse
x
The circle won’t be broken
Angels will hold
The breaking places
‘Til we get there
x
We’ll keep the world together
Until an ending that is proper
Appropriate for
New heaven and
New Earth
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by bhuvanesh gupta on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Affectionately Yours
x
All the things
That drive us to aberrant
Distraction, should
We let them:
What if our autonomics
Fail and I must be responsible
For breathing, blinking
The beating of my heart?
You see,
That won’t happen
But we can get into states
From time to time
x
As if the wrong angel
On my shoulder
Has been given too much sway
And I have let
The silent one
Stay silent in its wisdom
x
The demons call
Now and then
With sugar-words
And honeyed expectation
They must seem irresistible
In certain moments
x
But utter no,
Laugh
Move on—there,
You’ve removed the
Curse and thus joined
The anti-damnation league
Whose numbers
Are unknown
Whose fee is nil
But do they shine
In Parousiac moments
x
C L Couch
x
x
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
x
angel in a cemetery, weathered by time but still a powerful image
Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
The Book of Numbers
(in pandemic time)
x
Lots of twos and ones
Tomorrow
And a zero,
And there could be church:
I think I’d cherish
Learning someone else’s
Story
If in a cyber way
x
To understand
How a narrative fits
Into the weaving,
The puzzle
Of the one great story
In which we each
Have a page
x
Monochrome
Or colorful
Burnt along the edges,
Gilded for the saints
After all the torn-up
Parts have been
Repaired
x
Not a book of judgment
Not a cache of
Clever evidence;
Rather the story of us
In part
And all the rest of us
And God inside, above
With tired angels
Tirelessly binding
Fixing binding
All the time
x
C L Couch
(for 2/21/2021)
x
x
Photo by Paulius Dragunas on Unsplash
Antelope Canyon, United States
Ladder to Nowhere
(reasonable skeptic)
x
Wilderness for Real
(before the angels or the promised land)
So what happens
In the wilderness?
We think more about its passing
Forty days in the wilderness
Forty years wandering
The desert
How were they led
Without any leading?
There was no direction but
Not to find the way
One day in a wilderness
Without means except
What might fall out of the sky
Stone into bread
Water from rocks, that is
And are we to live by miracle
For many days?
The holes inside of desert walls
Holes within holes
Drive in a couple pegs
To make a shelf
This life was considered wisdom?
There must have been
The company of food
If not of people bringing it
Water must have gotten there
Somehow,
Meaning wisdom must be patronized
Sponsors for each hermit
If not a dining hall
Is a hermitage allowed community?
Is there companionship
Inside the wilderness?
Who would be alone
To hear only the heart
Wait for nerve flashes
To shine behind the eye,
This is loneliness enough
The creator hasn’t left
Each one is not a pocket watch
Inside a deist vest
There is loneliness in wilderness
Underneath there is companionship
Something we feel
Less than God
But more than ego-censorship
Affords in crowds
Magnets are not good for us
They draw us without thinking
When we can get away
Or accept it, anyway
Because it happens
Something in us owns
The time, the chance
To say, this feels like home for now
I’ll stay here while I can
Even as a long-withheld surprise
I’ll learn
Employ some craft
Commune
It shouldn’t last forever
Then I get to return
Maybe encounter you
Before returning,
All changed
C L Couch
Photo by Arto Marttinen on Unsplash
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