Search

clcouch123

I talk you talk we'll talk

Open Search
Tag

Christmas

having been incarnated

(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

0

Babe

(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

2

some poems for you today

(x = space)

x

x

some poems for you today

(some poems of the day)

x

x

night will come on

x

second full day of winter

a thoughtful day

perhaps

x

day before the night

before the day

still a blue or purple day

white or gold

in the offing

x

another yet another

gray day outside

to look at it

to feel it

too

there’s something of a chill

x

maybe it’s three ghosts

warming up

in an ethereal bullpen

before descending upon London

or wherever

whoever Scrooge

might try to sleep

inside posts of tarnished gold

having eaten

unappreciated food

and nothing for the child

Want or Ignorance

not yet

x

we can await

transition

transformation

of a night

in a great story

sometimes on Earth

the real Earth

to know

x

x

the allusion is, of course, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, often published with other Christmas stories

x

x

multiplicity

x

sigh

a great God

comes to Earth

having been here already

shooed us from the

garden

set an angel with a sword

to keep us out

should we find it

however accidently

once again

x

a God

who’s always here

already

thus begging a confusion

since we make a deal

of God arriving

though God is here

x

well

the ancients

didn’t have that problem

paradox in time

like characters

from Bible stories

costumed as one’s own

also

in Old English

for example

without a future tense

x

so that

every time is now

and the next thing

and the thing

that was

no worries

x

God is always here

always arriving

too

everything a kind of participle

or a gerund

the subject in or as

a tense

that is all timelines

all the time

x

confused mortality

perhaps

yet replicating

meter of a chaosed clock

that has numbers

that

for the sake of our philosophy

are movable

forgettable

in the exigencies

of moments’

having

and remembering

also anticipating

x

always the birth

always the apocalypse

as well

meaning that

time and meaning

have all seeds

and growth

and harvest

with all accounts

as with all stories

every gospel

all the same

with kairos room for change

here and now

and then

and what’s to come

all the same

here

and in a kind of ancient

(that means contemporary

too)

crazy and amenable

as now

x

was

is

will

as now

x

bless our ancients

for knowing something

of

the ways things magically

and really are

today

from yesterday

into divine best-guessing

for tomorrow

x

x

servile

x

what shall we say

that’s permanent

except that God is love

God is a spirit

plus all better metaphors

a rock

a lion

x

who has an investment

in every good

and reasoned thing

in need

for us to call it miracle

x

water from

desert stone

food in ravens’ mouths

that they abey

until

delivery

x

God strives

to keep the prophets

whole

for the rest of us to

hear

and to absorb

the entire

story

letting

the wisdom

and the warnings

to soak in

through all

our cells

supernal messages

easier metaphors

for meaning

x

no riddles

save for fun

sometimes erudition

(though the simple ones

are better

aren’t they

Bilbo)

no requirements

beyond a willing

and created nature

x

there being

no stars for gain

(there are no Sneetches

and there is no

McBean)

no refectories

with sainted machines

dispensing

when the answer

or indulgence

might be right

that is

Earthly correct

x

rather leave

our kitchens

for serving

real food

for need

and in a turn

for pleasure

since there’s no reason

service should not be

pleasant

as well as exigent

with even

seasons to remember

the life outside

inside

x

the gospel within

food

perhaps

though better

after

so that we might be

sated twice

with victuals

and nourishment

from stories

forgetting not

our own

x

x

the clock that smiles

x

tomorrow go to church

or last night

this evening

later the next day

until the sun

decides

to set

and an indulgent clock

must by the maker

say

it’s had enough

x

there is this morning

too

there is right now

and shall we worship

God

inside a heartbeat

savoring the next

secured

inside

the believing beat

of now

x

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by Dominic Tham on Unsplash

x

x

God bless

our in-between days

x

1

Exiled

(x = space)

x

x

Exiled

x

Oh

God

Shall we have

A good season

Together

The year has started

And now

Another season

x

Intentions

Overlap

You come into the world

And you are here

The Earth tilts

And always

Has

Far as we know

x

Turns

Like a top

A toy to such as you

Though you

Are not a giant god

That way

x

You play

But not with us as

Playthings

Upon the Earth

An unrolled

Plastic battlefield

x

We toy each other

Which is

An eldritch lesson

We came up with

On our own

x

Objectify

‘Til someone doesn’t matter

Like Cain

Like everyone in western Asia

Like anyone who’s different

Over here

x

We need a season

Need the time

But shall we be reborn

With remembrance

Of a real birth

To save the nations

Ransom

Captive Israel

Then all the rest

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jorge Fernández Salas on Unsplash

x

1

Christmas 6

(x = space)

x

x

Christmas 6

x

Geese

And they are laying

How did you work that out?

At least we could sell the eggs

To service all the critters

By now and forthcoming

x

Geese don’t like us much

They honk when they’re annoyed

And they’re annoyed a lot

So am I with you,

True love,

And this relentless

Stratagem

That somehow you perceive

As courting

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Eric Brehm on Unsplash

x

0

The Twenty-Sixth

(x = space)

x

x

The Twenty-Sixth

x

Now is the time

For peace on Earth

When there is no binding holiday

No slogan

No official reason

We must slosh inside the ordinary

Mind

Hope for the best

With hoping

Because there is a job to do

Gift wrap to amass

Maybe hope

For extended appreciation

Of the gift

x

Here it’s cold

There is no snow

What is a child to do

Outside?

How is it where you are?

Well,

There are screens

And some controls

To occupy

Maybe made up of more

Than metal

And plastic

x

War goes on

That’s literal

And horrible

I don’t think it paused

For the official reason

Yesterday

Aiming for infrastructure

Destroying daily need

Aiming for

The sanctity of home

And then the nation

x

I mean Ukraine

Of course

But ask around

It’s happening elsewhere

x

Maybe it can’t happen

I heard the bells on Christmas day

When the pastor had no hope

Except to write

x

But today

Is the twenty-sixth

Only ordinary reasons

Will compel

Though that’s the only kind of peace

That lasts

The kind beside the holiday,

Lacking cachet

That’s global

Or across the street

x

Peace in normal living

Pericardial

Beneath the cranial sutures

Satisfying daily muscles, too

x

Yes, there is a Boxing Day

And turtles doves are due

And Hanukkah

The Festival of Lights

Completes

Its wonder

And bestows

x

And there are other dates

In other places

We don’t know

And they matter

With or without the nations

Knowing

Or the neighborhoods

x

What might be happening

Where you are

As your own

And annual thing?

x

But with all lack of ritual

We have

There were storms

Taking lives

In New York

And in the South

There is the danger in

Deep, freezing temperatures

x

And that’s here:

What’s happening with you?

x

Lights are on in capital cities

Not lit for holidays

x

There is no peace on Earth

The pastor said

And then the bells were heard

Through winter windows

x

Bells can ring a lot

As angels can call

Inside desert skies

It doesn’t have to take a day

Or twelve days

Or their nights

x

Listen

In undesignated times

x

Through the daily and dark glass

We must

Practice

Belief in clarity

There is real peace

In store

Even after falling

(after Eden)

Perfection not required

No more than fancy dress

To come inside

To keep the outside, too

x

Let’s have peace

Beyond the demons

Even the Skeksis

You might know

That’s also black

And brown and gray

With splashes of

Bright colors

That mean promise

x

Inside our kitchens

And our resting places

x

Where we study

Where our children play

Where we have our jobs

For pay

x

Cessation

Then a waging peace

Everywhere that’s

Unextraordinary

x

We may claim a season still

Or simply have the one

We have

Without an ego calling

x

Ordinary peace, of course

Start with restraint

Then offer simply

Globally

On many worlds

With all groups

All numbers of inhabitants

x

The words of love

Then actions

That profit nothing

Like the world

But keep the world

x

Practices

That work in capitals

And under smaller domes

Homely contentment

In the happiness in others

Yes, that prosaic

x

Don’t worry

If you must worry

The effect

Without expectation

Cross lines

Or move in shapelessness

Of time and place

Over, inside the world

And on all worlds

Like the song

Great and small

x

C L Couch

x

x

CNN

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”

The Dark Crystal

“All Things Bright and Beautiful”

x

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

x

0

Christmas 1

(x = space)

x

x

Christmas 1

x

It’s Christmas day

What shall we say

But that the world

Is old and tired

And ornery

And peace taken

For an illusion

Some might enjoy

Invented

Only on the inside

Then a webinar

With fees

x

Here,

The sun is out

The temperature has climbed

Into two digits

There are icicles on the screen

Outside the casement

Of the window

Church is on line

Not only hundreds of miles away

But the consequence of heart disease

Is to stay

When the weather is extreme

Either way

And to deal with low energy

As in

It takes me forever

To do anything

x

And did Christ come today

Christ comes

Every day

x

And in a good way

I don’t care if

It was December 25

Or the ides of March

Something happened

The child of God was born

The child is also God

Was born

x

Is there meaning

In the other ways?

Of course,

There is

These seek the truth as well

And we should

Be

Should be

With them

x

Christmas is cultural

I’m at church

Hearing the songs

Hearing about the welcome

Of Ukrainians

Here

And I am glad

x

It isn’t peace on Earth

Only in

Such a small portion

Of the whole

x

And shall we say

Jesus was born?

I think we should

It’s history

x

Then in a supernal way

Maybe the spirit’s born again

In loving refugees

And loving refugees

Maybe there were times

When mortal Jesus

Felt outcast

Alone on Earth

As and why he walked away

From time to time,

Once

Prayed in the garden

x

You know,

We may take up

Exegesis

And

Evangelism

Later

And may I pause midstream

Like the saint to say

To the child Jesus

(I to you

and I a mortal child),

x

Merry Christmas

And for twelve days

That make

This varied

Still hopeful

Hopeful, still

Yes, brief

Season

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Robert Kalinagil on Unsplash

x

0

The Day before Tomorrow

(x = space)

x

x

The Day before Tomorrow

x

Last day in Advent

Made it

Whew

Rain, snow

Overwhelming cold

We should be postal carriers

To endure

It all

Strange meeting place

This junction of

The Northeast, MidAtlantic

The weather comes

From north or south

Or east or west

I’m trying

To get used to that

It’s only taken

Twenty years so far

There are forecasts

But better to wait

To know what happens

Though encounter

x

How to plan a picnic

Must be an undertaking,

Strategy

Requiring options

(bring the ants)

Sometimes the living

Is absurd

If not cartoonish

But these are the days we have

And the environs

Those who stayed

Or passed back through

Appalachia

To stay

x

And all the world has

Its places

Its challenges

Its practices

x

And now (among

the practices)

It’s Christmas Eve

And there are days in Hanukkah

This year correlating

Come

To light our way

The world could breathe easier

Except in Ukraine

In Myanmar and Yemen,

Oppressive parts of China

And of Russia

And in the manipulative

Shadowed corners

Of the USA

All the places where we watch

For detonation

Also the human heart

The battlefield it remains

x

Sin and virtue

Pounding and pushing

Pulling circulation

Strain

(Sturm and Drang),

The devils on the inside

On the outside

Rendering Christmastide

So perilous

x

And yet we sing into

A night

We wish were silent

Save for children’s cries

For all the reasons

Children cry

Among them to receive

First oxygen and hope

Into the world

x

Render the night

Impossible in virtue

We’ll sing it,

Anyway

We’ll kneel

We’ll try to light our way

We’ll quietly acknowledge

Neighbors

Some will party

And some will do nothing,

I suppose

Though the world is affected

By what we do this night

And for a thousand years

And in the time

Remember birth and

Death

And everything

That circulates a world

Keeps it moving

In the spirit

In the flesh

x

Though maybe for an hour

Let all mortal flesh

Keep silent

And in fear and trembling

Stand

To receive

To hope for blessing

In the night

x

Let fighter planes

Fly so carefully

Perforce keep watch

Like shepherds

Over continents

And there might be songs

At crowded borders

And the lines

Kept distant

From welcome

Because mines have barred the way

x

Peace on Earth

The ersatz wish

Some must believe

(yet some must believe),

Withholding war

The practice

That must be enough

For now

x

Into the world

The child comes

The children come

And everyone

And everything

Now have responsibilities

To keep it together,

To throw

And try to seal patches

The worn places

And to keep watch

For the tearing places

On the outside of Earth

And, you know,

On the inside

Heaven

And hell

The human heart

x

Anxieties may end

Because it’s here

Our plans are done

And in place as they are

Out of necessity

Of time

As chronos

So might we have

Christmas

For a day

Twelve years

Perhaps a brief era

If only hours

x

A spiritual time

A cultural invention

Arms reach out for a change

Hand in hand

In brave hope

To sing a silent night

To sing in glory

Once the vigil is completed

And there is indeed

There really is

A dawn of hope

x

Glory and hope

Amazing

Because a child is born

That for a time

Affects the government

In minds

As well as capitals

Until when all time is done

And in a kairos of eternity

It’s Christmas day

And all the other graceful days

Together

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Monisha Selvakumar on Unsplash

x

2

Holy, Holy, Holy Days

(x = space)

x

x

Holy, Holy, Holy Days

x

Holidays

Are holy days

The changing of the y to i

Means that’s it time

To shop

x

There are fantastic Christmas passages

In The Dark Is Rising

And Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

You should read these

And read them

To each other

It could be a new tradition

x

While you’re at it,

You could read

On your own

With a ceremony

Number the Stars

And The Giver

With an ending that

My students argued

Without consensus

And so we wrote the writer

Who wrote back

To say

She was impressed

That students cared so much

x

That story might end

At Christmas time

Not that the time must be

Sectarian

There is room (Spare Oom) to share

And the world’s time

Is always its own

Happy holidays

Happy holy days

However you work these out

Delight

x

C L Couch

x

x

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

x

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

x

2

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑