the way of all (smart, laughing, faithful) flesh
consequentially
anger
worry
fear
fear
worry
anger
they amass
and through which
we fight
each other
wisdom is not on
that list
or smarts
or joy
strategy might be applied
in fighting
but there might be something wild
like laughter
first
to apply
maybe
laughing
the kind you know
that's
with each other
laughing
we might have a chance
to diffuse
remember what we like
and for which
we hope
maybe we’ll come back
to a phantom table
(I doubt with
most folk
there’s a real table
though maybe in
more formal occasions
or ‘round
the kitchen table
or card table
of the home
and maybe we were talking
there)
maybe we’ll talk some
more
having risked some humor that
turns out
to be shared
then anger
or fear
the starting points
might mean the end
as well
with
wildest of all
the faith we might have in each other
restored
maybe the end
yet
without doubt
the new beginning
c l couch
photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Twilight Narrative
x
Long dream this morning
The kind when I wake
Then fall asleep again
About Bill
We took a trip together
Which we had never done
Some kind of blazing thing
A celebration of
The Midwest
Though we knew each other
In school
In the East
x
I got mad
And sad
Because I wanted to talk
With Bill about something
Happening to me
That I didn’t like my life
In Harrisburg
Wanting to say so
Wanting encouragement
Even advice
And he’d said nothing
x
I challenged him on that
A while later
(long dream)
And we got nowhere with it
We could perform
But we could not talk
Not for real
x
I woke up, realizing that
Bill would not go on another
Trip with me
And that was doubly frustrating
Mad
And sad
And then I remembered
That Bill
Had died
A brief while ago
x
My college roommate gone
With earthly friendship
Following
And I am sad
And sad
And sad
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
x
Bill liked root beer, Dad’s; root beer is brown and dreams are wavy
x
(x = space)
x
x
Prayer for Angry Neighbor
x
I’m going to ignore you
And pray for you
That you find what you want
Not as you want it
(sorry, that’s a spiritual rub)
But as one perfectly
Provides
And you are happy
As you’ve never known
x
I guess that’s not
So much ignoring,
After all
It’s the other stuff
The stuff that you throw
Down as if to say,
Challenge me
I’ll take you on
Though what you want
Is brittle
And could shatter
With what is left
Call them fragments
Call them splinters
Call it defeat
x
That’s probably too much
To pray for now
To keep it simple,
Pray for peace
On the inside for you
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Siarhei Plashchynski on Unsplash
x
Better
I don’t know much about the world
It seems
I wish it were better
I’m offended
And I’m angry
Who really wants to care?
We have other things to do, less
Pandering to moods
Chosen when something more promising
Could be selected
Another code pressed on the emotion
Vending machine
I wonder maybe we have a number of tokens
And then the rest are gone
For deciding badly
For too-small convictions
When being noble in an un-ranked way
Would make the difference
Would light the factories
Would illuminate
Pockets and portals of prosperity
Nether (never) world
Intentions hide
Give it a chance
A two-step beneath the table
Smiling for no reason
Than
The joy in dawn-split morning
Or romantic night
The splendid times when
In spite of rusted gags and
Chains
Joy breaks free
Almost Heaven
(phrase from artist John Denver)
Kanawha, Nicholas,
Greenbrier counties
Earth gives way
To water and to fire
In the anger of the
Skies
Prometheus surrenders
To the whim of
Dionysus,
Touched with the
Power of Poseidon
And sport-attitude
Of Zeus
We reach over gods
Toward better
Intercession,
Praying for the
Tendril touch that
Holds the earth
And sky
And all the heavens
Because on land and
Other West Virginia
Lives, an ocean’s
Upheaval falls
Drowning, splitting
The ground on
Which we alive yet
Strive to stand
West Virginia Flooding Kills 24; Search and Rescue Efforts Continue
https://weather.com/news/news/west-virginia-flooding-severe-weather-outbreak-news-impacts
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