It’s Been Black History Month
It’s been Black History Month
And one more week
And I’ve thought
And
Though about what
To say
Being white and not feeling
Privileged
But
To be convinced it has been there
That other white people might
Have taken back
Through
All my eschewing
Brave Black people
And we know because
Too many of
Them
Killed
Or lynched
Or lynched before have been killed
Or easily
Horribly denied
And I can only imagine
If the water fountain
Or indeed the whole damn restaurant
Or sets on
The bus
Were denied
For the sake of denying me
Small razor cuts
With large ones to the jugular
Also
Fires
Tar
Feathers
That splinter skin
Then pull it from the body
And I won’t have it
Lord
I hope I never have it
And insofar as I might mean
The other way
I won’t
Have it
Either
And I guess this is something like
What I’ve wanted
To say
And Blacks will say it better
Of their own
Though I want
Someday
For your own and mine
To be
By hook or crook
Or speech
Or gentle protest using buses
Or what have you
And by the love of God
Come down
To make us rise
Please
All of us
Someday
C L Couch
Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash
Martyr Medgar Evers
The Black man fell and helpless lay,
A gaping wound upon his back,
A witness to the savage way,
A beast had made it foul attack.
. . .
[from a placard—I looked some but could not find the source]
My Friend from School, Steve
(add in your friend)
My best friend
Locally
Was Steve
And Steve was Black
Mainly
Though
He was my friend
He brought me in
For a while
Even to his house
His home
And he told me how difficult
It was
To buy that house
In rural Pennsylvania
Where selling to a Black
Man had been
Difficult
Though he had money
And persisted
He let my cat
Stay with him
Too
She liked to run around
The house
And try to dominate
Queenly
The feral cats outside
Near the barn
Steve
Had two lovely children
Long grown now
I haven’t seen them
In a long while
Though I imagine
They are lovely
Still
Inside and outside
Hard-working
Like their father
Also loving life
Like their father
Steve was ill with things
A combination
Or a last thing
Took him at the end
That should have gone
Differently
He should have had years
Of relative health
And joy on Earth
Even though
No doubt
He’s doing better
Where he is
We were friends
At school
Where we worked
His office was a friendly place
There were rows
And stacks
Of things
To appreciate
Mostly
It was that they were illumined
Embodied with his presence
Sharing wisdom
Sharing life
A resting place
Even
For others
For me
I miss him
Even sharply
Every day
He had a way
I miss his presence
He was easy to be with
Whatever the mood
He was my friend
I miss him
Every day
He had a way
C L Couch
I write this because it’s nearly the end of Black History Month. I can think of Black inventors and I do. And so many Blacks I’ve known with all the talents, attitudes, and contributions. But my famous friend for this month is Steve. He was a teacher. He was skilled. He was welcoming. He had a home and had a life. He is my professional and personal Black history. He should have had more time on Earth. He once called me his brother, and I have felt that strongly ever since. He was mine. He was my friend. I miss him sharply every day.
Photo by Dylann Hendricks | 딜란 on Unsplash
prismatic day
what if racial
were delightful
what if I
delighted
found deep pleasure
meeting you
or passing you
and
exhaling
with deep pleasure
such an
interesting world
I know
I know
this nation
for example
started in
a backward
human way
since owning people
is reverse
of what God wanted
what God made
if only
in Africa and Europe
and then here
we had
I don’t know
let it go the other way
reasonably
let Blacks own whites
upon the block
at auction-time
and in the fallow
fields
needing crops
I know
I know
those made
and make
an even Biblical
argument for ownership
maybe for skin color
too
and white-righteousness
but I think we could
we could
agree
agree
that in the present context
of the way we live
today
today
such major points
made of minor insinuations
are wrong
at least wrong-headed
and frankly
evil
to have practiced
and to practice
now
I don’t know
call me a lover
I have had
my encounters
as have you
if you have
the world is the world
I guess
and we should take it
as it is
but never
never
leave it there
the unjust parts
the evil parts
the sinful
we have long ways to go
long ways
before we like each other
in the meeting of each other
superficially
then there’s the depth
of skin
beneath the skin
to plumb
in our knowing
of each other
there are the other differences
too
that cause disruption
disequality
disliking
so far to hating
ultra-hating
in some parts of us
here and there
(and sometimes there
is huge)
while these are the very things
for liking
for the difference
for how we are
and we contribute
differently
so much a fearful world
and there are fear-mongers
who profit
from the fear
who delight
wickedly
from the control
the very thing that’s good
turned bad
for perception
for agenda
hiding behind
(not underneath)
the skin
also
the skin of things
so much fear
so much fear
and fear turns into hatred
turns into anger
turns into righteous crime
as rationale
for hurting
for robbing
and for stealing
and a plan
an expectation
to get away with it
for righteousness
God
is righteous
we
are not
and in my doctrine
God as Christ
had to die for this
to open up our
pretended righteousness
to life anew
having surrendered that
while in your doctrine
God is also good
and God is
great
or there is no God
and still you wouldn’t justify
the taking
and the killing
for another’s difference
which could
and should
add to yours
meaning there is reason
as well as doctrine
for the liking
of each other
out of
foundational love
in the creation
and the molecules
of everything
which makes love deep
and practical
and liking
at least good for style
and really so much more
for meeting
and transaction
in the world
so shall
we give the world a chance
maybe as is
as well as it should be
colorful
shapeful
a myriad like prisms
in spectrographs
a miracle
perhaps
but a real delight
as in the taste of
good food
and good company
though there is
the matter of need
though there is
the matter of need
and shall we say
that matters
for deliberation
more importantly
for practice
it could make for
a separate economy
if need
here’s an economy for need
here’s the economy
for money
stocks
commodities
and bonds
the need is filled
on its own
with those devoted to that
the rest might be
for profit
as it is
(though I’d prefer
less life-sucking
if not less
murderous)
so that
we have a world
that might drink and eat
have shelter
and the chance for learning
which would make us
better
less war-like
having less need
for war
an argument
for economy
and peace
and the meeting of each other
in better forums
and
to say the least
more promising
you know
I have been sorry
say I’m sorry
every day
and in sorry
there might be change
maybe stepping toward
contrition
repentance
compassion
(then)
and empathy
like listening
like listening
there are skills
to learn
and a world to see
or without seeing
hear
and more than senses
have some feeling
for a world
that is our world
really
without destroying it
our world
c l couch
today begins Black History Month (the inspiration)
photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Segregation Wrecking Ball
x
Separate but equal?
I think I am quoting
Equality
Some more equal than others
I have heard this
The bigot says
I want a line between us
A barrier
Easily, I want to separate
Every part of my life
Into what I want
Whatever
Due to my boxed sense of things
Some kind of superiority
Tragically
Closeted inside
Maybe waiting for a
Monolithic
Rally
x
Sigh
(or moan or growl)
Those of us who never understood
The world from above
Is yes
Without borders
How
We are one blue-green marble
Rolling in relation
To the rest
x
Segregation
Takes strange energy
Nothing at all
Like strange and wonderful
But an investment
In dreadful
In the ersatz and the eldritch
A devilish combining
To elevate
The worst of us
x
We can do so much better
And it’s easier
It’s breathing air
It’s waking up
Having meals
Walking through our days
To give each other
Without baleful thought
The time of day
The normal investment
Of our lives
In greetings
And strategies
Together
x
The normalcy
The unsung justice
Of equality
Without the need to say it
From having it
So long
x
Hope for today
And in the generations
No separation
Normal restraint
For being human
Normal modesty
x
A delight in who we are
Without thinking
Who we are
x
Not colorblind
But colorful
Tropical and polar worlds
Temperate zones
Everywhere we are
The normal grace
Through which
We live and love and
Have our being
A liturgy of ages
Let the ages fit with such
Actions and such virtues
Start now
x
We have to learn
What the future
Will not have to
x
Except in learning about us
And what happened next
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Resource Database on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
A Kindness
(Rosa Parks)
x
Because she was tired
And had enough
Of being tired
And the bus was not a charter
It was public transportation
She paid her money
Not a special fee
There was a seat
And she was tired
And had had enough
Of being tired
x
The kind of pain
Inside and out
And all she wants to do
It have it
Live it
Normally
The way
Anyone might bear
The pain
Of living
x
Though especially
The colored people
Colored brown
And paying for it
Without payment
In a place they did not sail to
Like Europeans
Who told the stories
Of their difficulties
Forgetting
(looking away)
About the holds beneath
In which the colored people
Had been pushed
And chained
And many of them
Died
On a journey of abduction
x
Can you imagine
Starting out this way?
This is their legacy
So let her have the vinyl seat
That she had rented
For a while
x
Let her have the whole bus
A fleet of buses
Let the people ride for free
And charge admission
For the lighter folk,
Which might began
To pay her back
And all her people
Who had the worse luck
Like the Indians
Already living here
x
Everyone with un-pale skin
Who met the Europeans
x
Not me
I wasn’t there
The rejoinder
Fair enough
But you’re here now
We’re here
We’re all here
Now
With small choices
And enormous ones
For how to live a country
Filled with all the colors
Hearts
And minds
And souls
x
You know,
Sometimes we stand
To let the lady sit
Or someone older
Someone bearing burdens
Or simply to be kind
Call it
Chivalry aside,
We can live this way
Kindly and civilly
Again
And for the first time
x
Might bring peace
(yes, there will be disgruntled)
On the bus
At the doorways
Going in
And going out
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Peter Orsel on Unsplash
Intersection in the Middle of the Desert
x
(x = space)
x
x
Till We Have Faces
x
Black History Month begins
Black experience
Recorded
Call it Black experience month
Black testimony
Black story
x
Till
Evers
Amistad
Empires in Africa
Black and white
Greedy
Murderous
Raid
Take
Transport
Sell
And so begins a nation
You may say that others did it, too
So what
So fucking what
x
We have a month to cringe
A month to listen
Get it right
Fix something small
Fix something huge
Enormous
Like a nation
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
HDR shot of a sunset over downtown Memphis with the pyramid and bridge.
x
clcouch123 
Recent Comments