peregrine
another poem about breathing
breathe on me
breath
of God
that would be nice
I think Aslan breathed on people
and they were affirmed
to
exist and even have a calling
though maybe
existence
was enough
to know that God love me
for me
but
no
I should
do something
too
as I’ve wondered
and I’ve wandered
like the song
and like the song I wonder
while
wandering
why Jesus had to die
and
did he wonder
too
while he was wandering
well
we’re here
Jesus
Spirit and God
and me
without standing or power
a world to cheat
as well as to say hello
hello
maybe the start of cheating
and
what is my place
when it seems I have no place
I am God’s
I’m sure
though God be angry with
my performance so far
and
yet is love
Jesus and Spirit
too
to help
I want
to trust
I hope
c l couch
“Breathe on Me, Breath of God” and “I Wonder as I Wander” are hymns
photo by Brooke Balentine on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
The Eighth Day
x
O God
I exhale your name
That has no name
Nothing catchy
For a slogan
Or a following
x
Plain
Supreme
(like pizza)
Simple without cunning
The closest thing to name
Because we need a name
Otherwise
There is no signifier
So that creation
Stands alone
As its own testimony
To our senses
Of the creator
Back of it
Before
Underneath
To carry through
The secrets of the universe
Navigating rings
Of everything that orbits
Or otherwise transports
x
God without a name
Who’d rather not have one
Though Moses
Insisted
For his
Sibling people
x
God without a name
Vacuum for power
The designer has designed
To share
First with the host
And then for
Nature
Than for the rest of us
Who also need a name
For show
Of praise
Rather than manifest
Through only
Breathing out and breathing in
A life
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by La Pájara Azul on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
See the Chill We Feel Outside in Fall
x
I was out past midnight
When I left the store
I saw my breath in vapor
A little cloud
The first time in the season
x
Our fall has been too warm
But in the night
Beneath the parking spots
Outside the entryway
To Rutter’s
There was something
x
Evidence of exhalation
I am breathing
So are you
Breathing through
The midnight hour
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Tanya Pro on Unsplash
x
Breathe Through It
What is it but
The wind,
Ruach, pneuma
What is it but breathing
In and out, back in
And back out again
Autonomically, thank goodness
I’d hate to have to think about it
Or blinking
Or a heartbeat
Sometimes we need a push
And then there’s oxygen
In a canister
If it doesn’t seem to work, that can
Be frightening
After a heart attack, when the EMTs
Arrive or at the hospital,
First thing it seems there’s oxygen
Pressed into the nostrils
Good thing, I’m thinking
And typically there’s nitroglycerine
(now there’s an irony in invention)
That eases the chest
And tries to split the head
Into pieces
Imitations of the spirit
All to keep us breathing
I’m thankful
Honestly, for both
The breath that keeps me going,
That takes me home
C L Couch
Photo by Alain Wong on Unsplash
Saint-Adolphe-d’Howard, Canada
Work in Progress Process
Blank page awaits
No, it doesn’t wait on me—it’s a
Blank page
It doesn’t do anything
But I do
When inspired
Wait—must I wait for that?
It’s a process, you know
Discovery and meaning
I might not have just now
I might have them later
When in composing
Something happens
It’s here—hang on, it’s
Coming
On the way, I’m sure
And maybe with regret
I’m late waiting for Godot
The sun sets on my day
But wait—the
Breath of day is ending
Yet exhale and breathing-in of
Night is more inspiring!
(Waiting for Godot, a play by Samuel Beckett)
Ruah
I have a Hebrew
Book; it is
Beautiful
I don’t know Hebrew
(I, feeling like a fool,
Confess)
A few words translated,
Transliterated
Such as ruah
The wind,
The breath
Out of which
Our God
Creates
As I say,
Beautiful
clcouch123 
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