saving simplicity
believe in God
that’s all
maybe reminded
that
God is love
as well as judgment
and it seems
would rather love
us
than judge
us
read the verse
after
3:16
for God’s rather
what God
would rather do
and that
together these
verses shall say
the reason
for salvation
is not lack of fallacy
or even
fullness
in fortitude
but because there’s love
in
foreground
and in
background
and on which our lives
are painted in
between
love
and faith in love
from the Lord
that are
the Lord
in all the parts
and all of them
unfailing
and shall we love
and believe
from the same capacities
of creator
in
creation
simply
that’s ours to choose
war or peace
attack or
rescue
like the one
who from our perspective
must allow
our choosing
from
either course
weighed out of love
and faith
that’s all
c l couch
photo by Corey Hearne on Unsplash
And in Conclusion
Believe or not
There’s God
It’s up to you
Wonderfully
Up to you
For faith
In what’s unseen
By unseen
But what’s evidenced
In
Nature
Even by extremes
More so
In love
And everything
Beyond ourselves
Affirming
What is in ourselves
That we know best
As flesh
Combined with
Spirit
My
We really are
Something
And should mean it
Fantastic-made
And beating certain odds
For now
To have been kept
And then
To keep ourselves
And we should know
The value
Beyond chemicals
The market fluctuates
Bur the worth
Of what’s internal
As eternal
Is forever
And the price
As might be reckoned
Also needed
By
The world
It seems
Paid
In faith
And love
And also paid
In full
Perfected in a life
Both human and
Divine
And in divinity
We pray
Our own spirit
And our flesh
Shall pray
Even with life
And life’s devotion to
What’s good
Resisting evil
And when giving in
To evil
Then returning
The question
Which is
Stronger
Which is more
At last
Answered
With wounded conviction
Scarred believing
And we may
Return
Or
Yes
Never having left
And maybe to eschew
When needed
Older
Siblings’
Attitudes
Toward prodigals
We have
We come back
And now
We all remain
In faith
Uneasy in the world
As uneasy
To the world
Which says
No evidence
No faith
According to our rules
Though evidence
Invisible
Like concepts
Be
Working all around
But
Speaking of invisible
To start
At least
Remember one’s
Great value
That is
Your own
And don’t forget it
Stay alive
Forgive
And be forgiven
Knowing that life and love
(unscalable
though scalable)
Keep us
And keep us going
In the valley
To the top
Depth
As well as height
And in the mind
Between
Then knowing well
Of one
Reach out
To one
And then another
And let groups
Of faith have strength
With courage
For each other
Goodness
Do I sound
Like an epistle
Well
Enough courage
In the one
To be
And more
To join
A model
Maybe
Understand of the one beyond
Or go the other way
Let the one
Be model
For you
And for us
Either way
Have faith
Remembering greater love
But keeping oneself
Precious
And unstained
Though knowing
That God loves
The stained
As well
And we should love
The stained
As with the wounded
All around
Such things
As shall be lifted
But for now
Need caring
As with the pristine parts
And also those
As practice now
For everything
All Earth
And heaven
Flesh
And spirit
Renewed
C L Couch
Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash
gifted
I’d like to give you each
a present
though I’m poor
and not the kind of poverty
that saints admire
for I have little
mystic understanding
and what I have
is tied
to nothing like
how much
how little
I have
I’d like to say
go slowly
as the Buddhists
say
especially
when parting
I’d like to say
remember all your loves
made up of
reason
practicality
and balance
not that passion
doesn’t count
it does
but there should be a measure
in most things
of what is right
and what is easy
(like
Jack’s pieces
well
maybe not so much)
which is
(really)
to say
let all good things
have their place
and do not rearrange
from the heaven
of creation
and the philosophy
inside all things made
for there is
certainty
as well as confusion
the way this world works
and don’t deny
the sure things
that you
and others
who are smart
and might be trusted
might ally
I’d like to say
think God
(like another movie)
though I know
that’s not enough
or I could say
love
and let love
not frilly silly
(‘til the day)
but steady
and trustworthy
have its say
and guide
however trite it sounds
each day
I guess
some things are cliché
like the way we use
iconic
meaning not a symbol
but celebrity
believe
and love
so common
(a cliché)
and yet maybe
we can still ourselves
and our sophistications
to accept
that some things
important things
the most important things
are commonplace
no secrets
no requirements
but to accept
what is instilled
(installed
as it were)
within internal palaces
or offices
or bungalows
(I’ll take a wooded cabin)
in the mind
in what we call the heart
in what really is
the spirit
might be
an alliance of the spirits
one by one
within
between
our groups
our nations
for an errant world
on its quest
our quest
to grow
to acquire
and to save
good things
and we could have rituals
and easiness
(not mindlessness)
in what passes
from the Earth of now
into
the next
of now
c l couch
photo by Luca Pennacchioni on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
amen, amen, amen, amen, amen
(you can sing it)
x
there were good hymns
in church
and a couple that were sleepy
the sermon was terrific
for being true and in style easy
as if we could believe
afterward
and live it through the new week that
all this was meant to serve
amen
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by channel 82 on unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Honestly
x
O God
You are so good
I say this when the sun is out
Will I say it
In the storm
When I am losing everything I’ve had
Maybe a person
x
While my people are shattered
Or even when the sun
Comes out
After
x
I won’t believe the sun
May I believe you
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Invitation from Earth and Sky
x
Briefly then,
There are good things
On the earth
And inside sky
And inside far below
We can ask for
Closeness to good things,
And we should:
x
For good warmth
From the sky,
Good feeling in our bodies,
Good reason for
Decision-making
x
The substance of the
Asking might be
Prayer of a kind of
Cosmic negotiating
For agnostics
x
Either way
Or with simpler hope,
We can let goodness
Have its way
With core and crust
And breathy atmosphere
x
Inhale, exhale—
Walk to stretch things out
x
Extend our fingers,
Reach out with our palms,
And turn our wrists
x
The cosmos will
Appreciate our reaching out
So and more so
Would the mortals
And the ineffable
x
Let all mortal flesh keep silent
And in fear and trembling stand
x
Each year there is an advent
And most days,
Our response invited
x
Our planet awaits
As does everything beyond
The sky that our shiny satellites
Detect, now draw from
For extraterrestrial
(extra-lunar)
Samples
x
The maker awaits
Here and there as well,
Inviting us inside
Community, one by one
And altogether
To believe
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash
Strong wind, frost and rays of sunlight created this wonderful pattern on my windshield.
x
“Let All Mortal Flesh” is an old hymn out of the Christian tradition.
A newer hymn, “Earth and All Stars,” also comes to mind.
x
Dear Santa Claus,
(not a child’s letter)
I believe in you
All the yous
We’ve owned some magic
From the original story
Though I try to keep
The faith from that one,
Too
We wish, don’t we?
We wish like another saint
That all be well
She has more faith than I,
Claiming that
“All shall be well”
But I have hope
I don’t have much to ask
This year except for
Reading glasses, extra-large socks
(they feel better)
Maybe, maybe a new winter
Coat—in these parts, it does get cold
Wait, how boring is my list?
Each day bears its own need for wishes
I can take part in these
If my list should go beyond
Then
I can ask for love, romantic and
Erotic (yes, at my age)
Though really
The kind that keeps
Not only on a shelf (in case I should
apologize for all the elves)
But on both sides
Of the doors
Of the human hearts
Involved
So I’ll close, dear Santa Claus
Thanking you for Sandy Paws
And all the softer
And the harder things that
I must keep for Christmas
Trying for year-‘round
With love
And respect,
Robin
C L Couch
A Note on Names
Robin
Is a nickname
For Christopher,
Hood, or Goodfellow
I’d choose Topper second
But neither name of these names counts
The rules say nicknames
Can’t be self-selected
(though Lewis somehow decided on
“Jack” and got to keep it),
Rather gained, for better or worse,
At home or on the playground
By good fellows
(male and female)
Or maybe, maybe in a hundred-acre wood
When we were
Very young
Image by TanteTati from Pixabay
(image above) Vincent Guth on Unsplash
Iceland lake, Northern Lights
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