birthday bard
born
or born
near this day
our lord’s year
1564
some educated
beyond
believed the local school
more so somehow
illuminated
aware of the world
where it is
where it was
who
and how
topical
which could be daring
writing about the father
of the kind
all sorts of guess
how he lived
except to know he was not
the starving artist
but
did well
poet
first
then actor
better-heeled
as poet
married
buried near the altar
for respect
and
perhaps some sort
of sponsorship
and
when dug up
to find all bones except
the head
as someone might have wondered
about Einstein
and
the brain
war
distant
near
love places and time
with something of forever
in each effort
magic
discovered
undiscovered countries
also
ethereal
tried as practical
the identity of one who could
compose
so much
and so penetrating
about us
peers
yes
and peerless
and
happy birthday
were you here
while we are here
yet
look forward to a part
with all
great dramas
in the legacy
of
the greatest play and art that
of eternity
c l couch
photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash
“Stratford Station” (for translation)
Stratford, London, UK
b-day GW
today is G’s birthday
and what must he think
he might not mind so much
except he saw the war
led it
watched the soldiers die
watched them freeze
at Valley Forge
and then
perhaps with barely thawed enthusiasm
row
then march on Trenton
for the win
and he knew
enough
to resist majesty
mot likely would not care
for
Apotheosis
though he likely would appreciate
the talent
in the
art
and maybe dallying with God
being
Episcopalian
except one Sunday in Carlisle
when it seemed meet
to go
Presbyterian
but letting God be God
should a monarch be appropriate
but
no one
as one
under God
on Earth
and in deciding earthly matters
leave all people
to decide
except for the flawed
frankly awful quantities
to make
of women and
of slaves
since to have a nation we must
all
be or become democratized
happy day
George
and maybe happy nation
you secured
and must make up
and grow
negotiate a peace inside
and
then model
as the French have tried and then
(as
well)
to be this kind of
presence
in the world
c l couch
photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash
Mount Rushmore, Mount Rushmore UT, SD, USA
(never finished as a monument)
a day too that’s good for thinking about tart, red, sweet cherry pie
(sorry, had to say this)
on my oldest brother’s birthday
what shall I say
happy birthday to my brother
many
more birthdays
and painless shoulder
for a gift
and thank goodness
you’re the healthy one
of us
and selfishly
I count on that
as you
and then a model
for the rest
and so last seventy
by the way
we count
and it’s a good year
please
with all the good that is
and also due
c l couch
my brother Steve, 2 January
photo by Stavrialena Gontzou on Unsplash
We’ll Need New Articles for Einstein, Too
(23 April 2024)
Is it
Today
That’s Shakespeare’s birthday
That is
The christening day
By record of
The fact of birth
And if a construct
Then a construct with some very good
Actual
Details
A birthplace
A church
Parents
All the poetry
For
A first reputation
And some munificence
With which
To fund
Some future
With
Plays
Also a theatre
That burned
Down
And that they could
Build a stage again
A favorite of the queen
And then the king
Respected
No doubt also scorned
For envy
By
Peers of verse
Especially
Also of drama
A family
And a burial
Back
At the church
Near the altar
As a deal
And after checking
Mini-eons later
To find the skull
That held
The face
The
Mind
Like Yorick
Isn’t there
(proving something
proving nothing
Macbeth-
like
sound and fury)
Maybe to be set aside
Become
Einstein
Someone whom
We’ll argue for
In the same way
For
For future
Academics’ sakes
C L Couch
n.b. (I think well)
My christening
By the way
Waited a year and
A half
Oh
No
Grist for more
Speculation
Photo by Dalton Smith on Unsplash
23 April 1564
(looked it up—twenty-three score years ago)
12 February 2024
today is
Lincoln’s birthday
as I recall
most years
uncongealed
from the
single
Presidents Day
and
yes
ten days from now
is Washington’s
Lincoln was
from Kentucky
as was I
though much taller
when he grew
much taller
about everything
adding that hat
for greater
height
he split rails
the kind for fences
I believe
maybe to be ready for
a fenced-in nation
he took us
through the worst
making mistakes
I’m sure
and losing children
maybe
tens of thousands
of these
whose names
might as well have been
Edward
William
Thomas who went by
Tad
the ones who died then
and the others
later on
as
a tragic legacy
and in two days we’ll celebrate
romantic love
which has me recall
the story of
how Lincoln first encountered
Mary Todd
saying he’d like to dance
with her
in the worst way
and then
proceeding to prove that
and she endured
poorly
as the war happened
and then
once it was over
she lost her family
viscerally
terribly
one child remained
as company
for her
remaining days
the President would turn
215 today
which means
he wouldn’t
but in remembrance
where his years
as in heritage
are eternal
he made mistakes
I’m sure
but he was whom
we needed
for splitting fences
in and of
themselves
the biggest
worst metaphors
barriers
having been made
by slavery
with other interests
from the states
that having been decided
in a sibling war
could turn out be
the U.S.A.
a single entity
imperfect
but so far indivisible
again
c l couch
photo by Ron Graham on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Babe
x
Advent 4
That sometimes falls on Christmas Eve
Smooshing our liturgies
Though sometimes it is Christmas day
For greater smooshing
x
We light four candles now
From sources
Matches
Friction inside brass cases
Long metal sticks with flames
Other candles
x
There is a fifth candle
Waiting
Which doesn’t stand for anything
No merging of symbols
Or guesses at tradition
It is Christ’s candle
It means Christ
Alone
x
The baby born at last
Who came to term
In Advent
And in that
A hurrying of the season
One month
While eight months somehow
Happened somewhere else
In ordinary time
Perhaps
A mother
Would know how to count
x
But Christ
Soon will be born
Another season
Lasting something like
Twelve days
Twelve days to celebrate
To sing like angels
With the fact they sing
Though nothing
Like their song
Their heavenly keys
Supernal rhythms
x
So this is the last
Before he comes
Anticipation’s nearly done
And (nearly) all our candles lit
We know
We are illumined
As much as we shall have
Before arrival
This final lesson
Only
x
In that
Christ arrives
Christ arrives
Not only once a year
Though once
As a liturgical
Baby
x
There’s
Dedication
While the rest of the time
He’s pretty grown
With grown-up things to say
x
Though he elevates
Other children
In the notion that
Innocence
Unworldly honesty
Make the way to lead
As well as
How to live
x
So ask for blessings
On the child
For we might not know
Where God ends
And the human part begins
x
There might be surprise
And pain
To have come into the world
The way as all
Like us
Who arrive
And now to live here
With us
For us all
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Anna Vander Stel on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
15 February
(1925 to 1983)
x
Today is Mom’s birthday
Happy Birthday, Mom
x
I trust
The birthdays have been
The happiest
Of days
Since you arrived
And for the forever
That you’ve been there
x
Do you have a place?
Is it your own
With neighbors
And community close by?
I imagine walls
Made of bright wood
And a few
Favorite things
And a door that opens
Into spring
x
It is a dream
It is a hope
It is a formless prayer
Against the real joy
Better than my guesses
Of eternity
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by daniela de gol on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Chalk Calculations on the Head of a Shovel
x
Sunday
Is Lincoln’s birthday
I like this guy
Though I probably
Don’t know why
And don’t know enough
Why maybe
I should not
x
What I know
Is that he was born
In Kentucky
(me, too)
And he grew tall
(not me)
And had a sense of humor
(played pranks)
And could split rails
And was a failure
At nearly anything he tried
Except
The holding of one office
To which he was elected,
The one and he
That we remember
x
Republicans
Were upstarts then
And maybe have their best
In their first
‘Cause he was pretty good
Flawed
Perhaps greatly,
Haunted
By the losses
In his family
And in the losses in
The nation’s family
x
He was a kind of
Savior to that nation
In a conflict
That many folk
Did not take too seriously
Taking picnics
Borne in carriages
To watch the battle like
Watching
A tournament
x
And then the bullets
And the missiles
Spoke to say
There is no recreation
And four years later
(every war is Pyrrhic)
Everyone who breathed
Said for themselves
And for everyone
No longer drawing breath
This is enough
Let’s have an ending
To the ruinous process
We drew upon ourselves
For growing up
A country
Four years
As an age
x
He freed the slaves
Many people freed the slaves
Among them slaves
x
The many battles,
Wounds and deaths
Disease
Formulative scars later
And the war
Was over
Save the carpetbagging
And the agonizing irony
Of Reconstruction
x
But first
By the assassination’s bullet
He was removed
From everything we know
And might improve
x
Johnson tried
But was impeached
Though not convicted
And was left
To practice
What we recall as an ineffectual
Administration
x
The remains
Of Abraham
Were taken from the capitol
To Springfield
For burial
While we’ve had nearly
Eight-score years
To count his steps
And missteps
But he was carried
And placed over stone
And under earth
For silence
x
And shall we say he’s great?
Greatness is
On the inside
Of a life
And then through what is done
And if we can reason there
We may only with
Minimal compunction
Call him great
x
Once we have decided,
We should relate the news
To the President
Maybe
Before his tomb
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Frances Perry
x
Today is my grandmother’s
Birthday
She made it to 92
Not bad in my family
She thought Excedrin for pain
And a banana once a day
Were good for long life,
Otherwise living each day
With whatever
x
She had agendas—don’t
We all—but
She might have been
A simple person
Driven by impulse
That life in the Depression drove
Also by other, better life
Secured
After
x
She was the one I knew
Her husband was a good man
Who died when I was
A teen
And everyone was gone by then
Now the parents’ generation, too,
For some time now
x
My siblings
Have had to forge their anchors
And to cast them on their own
In hopeful waters
x
I’d say they’ve done well,
While I record
Some things
About them all
About us all
x
Remember to
Set down your stories,
Too
x
C L Couch
x
x
“Migrant family from Arkansas playing hill-billy songs. Farm Security Administration emergency migratory camp. Calipatria, California” 1939
By Dorothea Lange – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4450129
x
clcouch123 
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