The Body Practical
The human body
Is impractical
I mean
It’s working well enough
Until it isn’t
But what we really need
In addition to nominal
Health
Is an option for gills
That fold away
Until we need them
And we need
Wings
That keep
And when unfurled
Remind us as we fly
That God favors
Us
In making us
And we
At the very least
Owe the favor in return
While we are soaring
And at other
Times
Plunging
Also with delight
Into the depths
C L Couch
Photo by ibuki Tsubo on Unsplash
Painless
(for patient patients)
I need my pain
The captain
Said
And I suppose
The captain’s
Right
Worse the luck
For all
The pain
That is
In the world
My portion
In
My body
At the moment
And for hours
And for
Days
Treatments
Notwithstanding
(they help for
a while
sometimes
but
might not resolve)
I complain
It’s inconvenient
And
Might be a sign
Of
Something worse
Inside where
I can’t see
Of
Course
And maybe a medico
Or a machine
Will tell
It is a signal
That something
Is wrong
And as
A constant
Thing
Might mean
There’s always
Something
Wrong
Which could be a
Signal
Even
Of mortality
To bear
There’s pain
And there is pain
‘Cause
There are kinds
And painless be
The world
In
The future
On
The other side
Apocalyptic
When joy
Shall go unmingled
And
Can we
Imagine
Such a thing
A time
(timeless)
And place
(not
placeless)
And new condition
While
We carry what
We carry
And regarding
Hurt
We try and
Others try
To fix us
For forbearance
And for health
Here
And now
(not timeless)
C L Couch
Captain Kirk is quoted
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
having been incarnated
x
oh
God
we say
you’re born
you’ve slipped inside
the pacing
of the world
flesh cells
adapting
to our measure
to our growth
and our decay
three score and ten
how does it
feel
x
I guess you knew
what this was
and is the human part
surprised
by mortal beats
the skipping
of the heart
outside
the rhythm
as we say
of the spheres
x
and are you well
will you
catch cold
or get mumps
have influenza
as our children must
from time to time
it seems
x
and you
will endure
(you must)
though it won’t be
so comfortable
with chicken pox
x
and then
grown-up
to feel
all that we feel
and think inside the vacuum
the shell
of thoughts
inhabiting the skull
and not much further on
nothing like
the mindset
you must know
inside eternity
and Godhead
x
and there are feelings
in the chest
desire
for the nation
yes
and only
for your own
because you are
humanly
entitled
x
yet what shall you have
when your body
it turns out
is for a cause
even
perhaps part of a plan
to cheat mortality
like the stratagems
of Pharisees
or statues of
self-styled kings
or emperors
x
Rome and Judea
and there is Parthia
and Britain
way-off China
and there’s India
and there are first people
everywhere
who belong
where they have moved
and stopped
and finally
no place to move
with what they have
for moving
x
all the people
of the Earth
post-Alexander
and never having known
Alexandrian expansion
or Roman roads
connecting
a known world
x
yet
are you here
for these
everywhere
which means
you might be here for us
here and now
x
I suppose
the other two
of you
will out
while you alone
are limited
while you must live here
with only us
for easy company
and reaching out
like us
often alone
sometimes in groups
though only through the shell
as we must beseech
mortally
unto the Lord
with questions
asking of a will
we do not understand
yet we believe
is there
x
how frustrating to be human
welcome here
we wish you well
we really do
because should we encounter you
there are stories
about something special
from you
something even
we don’t know
rescuing
about you
even in the flesh
x
c l couch
x
x
photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
The Real Thing
x
I am not in the war
Except
With my mind and heart
My contributions
Here and there
Not for a winner
But for everything
To cease
While there are citizens
And innocence
To count
x
I can’t imagine an explosion
(over me
and I am done)
Next to me
So that I live
But everything is changed
x
For what
And whom I’ve lost
All basic things
And anything
Refined
x
A world that’s there
Even to know
The risks in temporality
And to persist
Then what I know
Is gone
And I am hurt
My body
And my mind
x
I might get fixed
But something will not mend
Something broken
That the screws
And prayers
Cannot reward
With success
x
Some part of me
Who wonders now
A beggar on the plane
Of dreams
And real hours
When I dance
With hate
And seeming
Justification
x
For it all
To have happened
And it’s happened
So that
There’s an end
Before the end
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
What Number Pain Today
x
I don’t know
Or recall
Who came up with
Quiet desperation
Perhaps a modern poet
I hope you
Don’t have to live that way
Something inside
That found its way
A sidling kind of thing
That won’t let go
It could be memory
Or money
The potential for a scandal
Or simply a lot of pain
Not the kind that
Inspires a statue
And who needs that?
x
Pain is a reaction
A response
Also a signal
Can keep in the inner workings
Working
It should have an end
Not simply a measure
But that’s what
Therapy
Or medication’s for
x
Or simply bearing
Old body pains
A place of wounding
In the spirit
We can keep
Except sometimes we can’t
Then the therapy
Or medication’s needed
Prayer
Companionship
Companionship in prayer
x
Aquarius bears water
The libation bearers, well,
Libation
As offerings
Atlas
Or the elephant
Bears the world
And there’s the story of Saint Christopher
Who carried Christ, not knowing
It was Christ, through water
And a storm
And the child’s weight increasing
Until the one who carried him must say
He bore the weight
Of the world
And did bear
x
Carry weights
And pains
And as pains are signals
Pay attention
Carry,
I mean carry,
Carry on
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
x
the phrase “quiet desperation” is by Thoreau in Walden
x
(x = space)
x
x
Encounter
x
Is there a spiritual answer
To everything?
Well, yes
But we are flesh and blood as well;
And muscles, organs, veins,
And capillaries
Sometimes need appeased
x
The body keeps the feelings;
The flesh owns
All the senses,
And that’s good
It’s natural,
If limited
The soul is in here somewhere
Incited by a spark of life
That no one seems to understand
x
We seem to house everything
The world, the flesh, and the devil
As I’ve heard
The answers are in here,
I suppose,
Which means that the answers are
In you—maybe
We could share
That would be smart, I think,
And comforting
x
C L Couch
x
x
These young guys were chatting at a cafe, where they caught my eyes. They were a group of friends having coffee and dinner together and talking about movies, videogames, tech and stuff like that. I guess you could say that these are the stories of our younger years.
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
silent flesh
x
god made into flesh
while divinity wasn’t noticing
x
how else could perfection
give up eternal everything,
knowledge and power
and everything we want
and some of us think we should have
right now
x
jesus, god and human
how hard must that be
and who among of us would do it
knowing invincibility would be
a memory, only
x
as mortal, god would know us
as god might know a deer
or a rainbow
or unrequited love
x
that is, from the inside out
from the other side of creation
x
god will know us
as we live
give up a cure for every illness
prevention in perfection
x
excruciating
loving
all love because
there is no other reason
x
c l couch
x
x
notes
x
reading a prayer that mentions (I think) God made flesh (or maybe it was human) in a baby
x
thinking of an old hymn whose lyrics I find haunting (with a haunting melody):
Let all mortal flesh keep silent
And in fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded;
For with bless in his hand,
Christ our God to Earth descended,
Our full homage to demand
x
Wellcome Collection, London, United Kingdom
The Body
x
I lost some electronics last week; the Verizon person replaced big parts. The new WordPress editor is unwieldy. I’ve had extra headaches and added issues in the building. Sleeping has been harder. I’ve fallen behind and feel sorry for that.
x
x
Yawnism
x
When we’re tired
When we need an extra breath
Impulsive
Expresses boredom,
I suppose
If we could do it on cue
Mainly,
I think it says
It’s time for something new
Getting up or sitting down
Moving
Or less movement
The diaphragm needs to
Push on the lungs
And now;
Waiting would not be prudent
As trying to suppress it shows
Like most activities,
It is a process
Animals, we may believe,
Do it not for show
But smoothly
And in purity,
For real
x
Ingenuous about offense
(or is it ingenious?),
We could follow them
Meaning to signal
Nothing more
(to take away)
Than
Everyone wears out
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Girl with red hat on Unsplash
Cat yawning on blue bed.
x
Lent 27
(1 Corinthians 12:17)
We learn we are not an eye
But thankful to have it
I am many parts
So are you
So are we
And with others
Together
It is a body, yes
It has many strengths
Many colors
Many purposes
It cannot be judged
By standards of perfection
Unless we understand
We accept
That diminishment comes with time
That disabled happens
Sometimes from the start
Don’t add an automaton
To thinking
If it’s there,
Remove it
We are splendid
Like a galaxy
The galaxy of us
If not grace,
Similarly amazing
C L Couch
Photo by Bryan Goff on Unsplash
I took a short 20 minute drive the other night to one of my favorite spots to see the stars. It was exceptionally clear this night. What you are looking at is the core of the milky way. This photo is made up of 30 photos stacked and stitched together to produce this shot. I hope you enjoy it and that if you get a chance to look up at night and view the stars. I’m on IG @bryangoffphoto Stop by and say hi!
(characteristics of a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud)
clcouch123 
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